Konjo language (Bantu)

Konjo
Olhukonzo
Native to	Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethnicity	Bakonjo
Native speakers	610,000 in Uganda (2002 census)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu Rwenzori Konjo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	koo
Glottolog	konz1239
Guthrie code	JD.41[2]

The lhukonzo (Konzo) language, variously rendered Lukonzo, Olukonzo, and konzo, is a Bantu language spoken by the Konzo people of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has a 77% lexical similarity with Nande. There are many dialects, including Sanza (Ekisanza).^[1]

Writing system

Konzo alphabet^[3]

a

b

d

e

f

g

h

i

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

w

y

z

Phonetics

Consonants

Konzo consonant phonemes^[4]

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Postalveolar/ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n		ɲ ⟨ny⟩
Stop	prenasalized	ᵐb ⟨mb⟩		ⁿd ⟨nd⟩		ᶮɟ ⟨ngy⟩	ᵑɡ ⟨ng⟩
	implosive/ voiced	ɓ ⟨bb⟩		d		ɟ ⟨gy⟩	g
	voiceless	p		t	ʈ ⟨th⟩	c ⟨ky⟩	k
	voiceless prenasalized		ⁿt ⟨nt⟩
Affricate				t͡s ⟨ts⟩
Fricative	prenasalized			ⁿz ⟨nz⟩
	voiced	v	β ⟨b⟩	z			ɣ ⟨gh⟩
	voiceless	f		s				h ⟨h⟩
Approximant				l	ɭ ⟨lh⟩	j ⟨y⟩	w
Rhotic				r

Vowels

Konzo is characterized by distinguishing advanced and retracted tongue root.^[5]

Konzo's IPA vowel chart

[4]	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Near-close	ɪ	ʊ
Mid	ɛ	ɤ o
Open	a

Basic vocabulary

List of basic phrases and words.^[6]

• Good morning – wabukire
• Good afternoon – wasibire
• Good night - ukeyesaye buholho
• Thank you (very much) – wasingya (kutsibu)
• How are you? – ghune wuthi?
• How are you? – muneyo?
• Fine – ngane ndeke
• Sir/man – mulhume
• Madam/woman – mukalhi
• Boy – omuthabana
• Girl – omumbesa
• Dear – mwanithu
• Friend – omukaghu
• King – mukama/mwami omusinga
• 2-10 – ibiri, isatu, ini, ithanu, mukagha, musanju, munani, mwenda, ikumi
• Car – engumbaghalhi
• Water – amaghetse
• Gift – kihembo
• House - enumba
• Goat - embene
• Dog - embwa

References

1. Konjo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Kambale 2007.
4. "Konjo language and pronunciation". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
5. Derek Nurse; Gérard Philippson, eds. (2003). The Bantu languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1134-1. OCLC 50323065.
6. Kambale, Balinandi (2009). Lhukonzo - English -- English - Lhukonzo Dictionary. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. ISBN 978-9970-02-574-9.

Works cited

• Kambale, Balinandi (2007). Lhukonzo literature grammar (PDF). Kisubi: Marianum Press.