Luba (Chiluba, Luba-Lulua, Luba-Kasai, Western Luba) - one of the languages of the Luba people , refers to the Bantu languages . Distributed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , primarily in the provinces of Kasai , Lulua , Kasai East , as a lingua franca also in the provinces of Sankuru , Lomami and Upper Lomami .
| Chiluba | |
|---|---|
| Self name | Tshiluba, Cilubà, ciLuba, tšiluba |
| Country | Congo (DR) |
| Regions | Eastern Kasai and Western Kasai |
| Official status | not |
| Regulatory organization | not |
| Total number of speakers | 7.5 million |
| Classification | |
| Category | African languages |
Nigerian-Congolese macro-family
| |
| Writing | latin |
| Language Codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | - |
| ISO 639-2 | lua |
| ISO 639-3 | lua |
| WALS | and |
| Ethnologue | |
| IETF | |
| Glottolog | |
According to the classification of M. Gasri (1948, 1967-71), it belongs to zone L (index L.31), which also includes the other languages of the bast people ( group L30 ).
Content
Dialects
There is a significant dialect difference between the western ( Kasai and Lulua provinces) and eastern dialects ( Kasai East and Lomami provinces ).
Grammar
Luba is greatly influenced by Swahili .
Phonology
Bast alphabet: A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ny ny, Ng ng , O o, P p, S s, Sh sh, T t, U u, V v, W w, Y y, Z z.
There are open vowels / ε , ɔ / in the bast, rare in Bantu languages. In bast there are low, high and medium tones that carry a lexical and grammatical load.
Consonantism is characterized by the presence of a wide class of sibilants (s, z / dz, š, ž / ǯ).
Writing
Written on the basis of the Latin alphabet, arose at the beginning of the XX century.
Interesting Facts
According to a publication by Today’s Translations, a British company in June 2004 (written by Jurga илиilinskene), the language is the most difficult to translate in the world, ilunga , which supposedly means: “a person who is ready to forgive any evil for the first time, endure it for the second time, but not forgive the third time. " [1] [2] This word is a common personal name. On the other hand, this statement by Yu. Zhilinskene does not confirm other sources.
Notes
- ↑ BBC News: Congo word “most untranslatable”
- ↑ Today Translations - with the survey result Archived June 20, 2008 on Wayback Machine
Literature
- Avermaet E. Dictionnaire kiluba-français. Tervuren, 1954.
- Clercq A. Dictionnaire tshiluba-français. Kinshasa, 1960.
- Clercq A. Grammaire de la langue luba. Bruxelles, 1903.
- Clercq A., Burssens A. Langage luba. Kongo-Oversee, XII — XIII, 1946-47.
- Coupez A. Études sur la langue luba. Musée Royal du Congo Belge. Tervuren, 1954.
- Kuperus J., Mpungawa Ilunga. Locative Markers in Luba. Tervuren, 1990.
- Weier H.-I. Tonrelationen in Luba-Sprichwörtern. Köln, 1992.