 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Tshiluba, Ciluba | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Angola,Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Region | Kasai |
| Ethnicity | Baluba-Kasai (Bena-kasai) |
Native speakers | (6.4 million cited 1991–2018)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Democratic Republic of Congo (national language) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | lua |
| ISO 639-3 | lua |
| Glottolog | luba1249 |
L.31[2] | |
 Location of speakers: Luba-Kasai | |
| Pidgin Chiluba | |
|---|---|
| Native to | DR Congo |
Native speakers | None |
Luba-based pidgin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
L.30A[2] | |
Luba-Kasai, also known asCilubà orTshilubà,[4]Luba-Lulua,[5][6] is aBantu language (Zone L) ofCentral Africa and anational language of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, alongsideLingala,Swahili, andKikongo ya leta.
An eastern dialect is spoken by theLuba people of theEast Kasai Region and a western dialect by theLulua people of theWest Kasai Region. The total number of speakers was estimated at 6.3 million in 1991.
Within the Zone L Bantu languages, Luba-Kasai is one of a group of languages which form the "Luba" group, together withKaonde (L40),Kete (L20),Kanyok,Luba-Katanga (KiLuba),Sanga,Zela andBangubangu.The L20, L30 and L60 languages are also grouped as theLuban languages within Zone L Bantu.
Tshiluba is chiefly spoken in a large area in theKasaï Occidental andKasaï Oriental provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, the differences in Tshiluba within the area are minor, consisting mostly of differences in tones and vocabulary, and speakers easily understand one another. Both dialects have subdialects.
Additionally, there is also apidginised variety of Tshiluba,[2] especially in cities, where the everyday spokenTshiluba is enriched withFrench words and even words from other languages, such asLingala orSwahili. Nevertheless, it is not a typical form of a pidgin since it is not common to everyone but changes its morphology and the quantity and degree to which words from other languages are used. Its form changes depending on who speaks it and varies from city to city and social class to social class. However, people generally speak the regular Tshiluba language in their daily lives, rather than pidgin.
The failure of the language to be taught at school has resulted in the replacement of native words by French words for the most part. For instance, people speaking generally count in French, rather than Tshiluba. The situation of French and Tshiluba being used simultaneously made linguists mistakenly think that the language had been pidginised.[citation needed]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Western dialects | Eastern dialects | English |
|---|---|---|
| meme | mema | me |
| ne | ni | with |
| nzolo/nsolo | nzolu | chicken |
| bionso | bionsu | everything |
| luepu | mukela (e) | salt |
| kapia | mudilu | fire |
| bidia | nshima | maize meal |
| makelela | malaba | yesterday/ tomorrow |
| lupepe | luhepa | wind |
| Mankaji (shi)/tatu mukaji | tatu mukaji | aunty |
| bimpe | bimpa | well/good |
Luba-Kasai uses theLatin alphabet, with the digraphsng,ny andsh but without the lettersq,r andx:[7]
Tshiluba has a 5 vowel system with vowel length:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Open | a aː |
The chart shows the consonants of Tshiluba.
| Bilabial | Labio- dental | Alveolar | Post-alv./ Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | ||
| voiced | b | d | |||||
| vl.prenasal | ᵐp | ⁿt | ⁿtʃ | ᵑk | |||
| vd.prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | (ɸ) | f | s | ʃ | h | |
| voiced | v | z | ʒ | ||||
| vl.prenasal | ᶬf | ⁿs | ⁿʃ | ||||
| vd.prenasal | ᶬv | ⁿz | ⁿʒ | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||
According toThe Rosetta Project,[8] Article 1 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights translates to:
According to Learn Tshiluba (Mofeko):
