Swahili, Congo
A language of Democratic Republic of the Congo
| Population | 1,000. |
| Region | Widespread in Katanga, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, and Maniema provinces; southeast Orientale Province. |
| Language map |
Northern Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Alternate names | Zaïre Swahili |
| Dialects | Ituri Kingwana, Lualaba Kingwana, Katanga Swahili, Kivu Swahili. Kingwana is a pidgin Swahili which functions sociolinguistically as a dialect. There are several regional dialects, with that of the formerly Arabized areas being most similar to Swahili of Kenya and Tanzania. Lexical similarity: 30% with Lingala [lin] and with the Lega group, 15%–20% with Bira-Huku group, Bali [bcp], and Lika [lik]. |
| Classification | Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, G, Swahili (G.40) A member of macrolanguage Swahili [swa] (Tanzania). |
| Language use | National language. 9,100,000 L2 speakers (1991 UBS). |
| Language development | Taught in primary schools. Bible: 1960–1997. |
| Writing system | Latin script. |
Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:
Academic Publications
Ethnologue: Web |
Ethnologue: Print |
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Bibliography data last updated: April-2012
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