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'Kinyarwanda' is the chief spoken language in Rwanda. It is also spoken in the east of D.R. Congo and in the south of Uganda (Bufumbira-area). It is a tonal language of the Bantu language family (Guthrie D61). It is closely related to Kirundi, spoken in the neighboring country, Burundi, and to Giha of western Tanzania.
The inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi belong to three different ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa (although the validity of the ethnic nature is debatable; see [1]). That these groups share the same language is assumed to be due to the Hutu outnumbering the others (see Hutu for a more complete historical perspective).

Contents

Pronunciation

Grammar

Nouns

Verbs

Example translations

References

External links

Pronunciation

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p (stands alone only in foreign loanwords)
r
s
t
u
v
w
y
z
sh
nt
mp
nk
cy
jy
ny
'ki' and 'ke' can be pronounced interchangeably as [ki] and [ke] or [ci] and [ce] according to speaker's preference
An 'a', 'e', or 'i' at the end of a word followed by a word starting with a vowel often follows a pattern of omission (observed in the following excerpt of the Rwandan anthem) in common speech, though the orthography REMAINS THE SAME.
e.g. 'Reka tukurate tukuvuge ibigwi wowe utubumbiye hamwe twese Abanyarwanda uko watubyaye berwa, sugira, singizwa iteka.' would be pronounced as 'reka tukurate tukuvug' ibigwi wow' utubumiye hamwe twes' abanyarwand' uko watubyaye berwa, sugira singizw' iteka.'

Grammar

Nouns

Kinyarwanda has ten noun classes:

★ Class I: singular ''(u)mu-'', plural ''(a)ba-''

★ Class II: singular ''(u)mu-'', plural ''(i)mi-''

★ Class III: singular ''(i)(ri)-'', plural ''(a)ma-''

★ Class IV: singular ''(i)ki-'' or ''(i)gi-'', plural ''(i)bi-''

★ Class V: singular ''(i)n-'', plural ''(i)n-''

★ Class VI: singular ''(u)ru-'', plural ''(i)n-''

★ Class VII: singular ''(a)ka-'', plural ''(u)tu-''

★ Class VIII: singular ''(u)bu-'', plural ''(u)bu-''

★ Class IX: singular ''(u)ku-'', plural ''(a)ma-''

★ Class X: singular ''(a)ha-'', plural ''(a)ha-''
When preceded by a demonstrative, the vowel prefix is dropped. (e.g. ''umu-'' → ''mu-'').
Class I is used for words representing humans.

Verbs

All Kinyarwanda verb infinitives begin with ''gu-'' or ''ku-'' (morphed into ''gw-'' or ''kw-'' before vowels). To conjugate, the infinitive prefix is removed and replaced with a prefix agreeing with the subject. Then a tense infix can be inserted.

★ Class I: singular ''a-'' (morphs to ''y-'' before vowels), plural ''ba-''

★ Class II: singular ''u-'', plural ''i-''

★ Class III: singular ''ri-'', plural ''a-''

★ Class IV: singular ''ki-'' (morphs to ''cy-'' before vowels), plural ''bi-''

★ Class V: singular ''i-'', plural ''zi-''

★ Class VI: singular ''ru-'', plural ''bi-''

★ Class VII: singular ''ka-'', plural ''tu-''

★ Class VIII: singular ''bu-'', plural ''bu-''

★ Class IX: singular ''ku-'', plural ''a-''

★ Class X: singular ''ha-'', plural ''ha-''
The prefixes for pronouns are as follows:

★ 'I' = ''n-''

★ 'you' (sing.) = ''mu-''

★ 'he/she' = ''y-''/''a-'' (i.e. the singular Class I prefix above)

★ 'we' = ''tu-''

★ 'you' (pl.) = ''u-''

★ 'they' (human) = ''ba-'' (i.e. the singular Class I prefix above)
Tense markers include the following.

★ Present ('I do'): ''-'' (no infix)

★ Present progressive ('I am doing'): ''-ra-'' (morphs to ''-da-'' when preceded by ''n'')

★ Future ('I will do'): ''-za- ''

★ Continuous progressive ('I'm still doing'): ''-racya- ''
The past tense can be formed by using the present and present progressive infixes and modifying the apect marker suffix.

Example translations

Yego	Yes
Oya	No
Ndabizi	I know
Simbizi	I don't know
Amazi	Water
Ndashaka amazi	I want water
Urushaka ikawa	Do you want coffee?
Bite Byawe?	How are you? (Informal)
Witwa nde?	What is your name?
Umusarani uri hehe?	Where's the bathroom?
Nitwa…	My name is…
Amahoro	Peace
Murakoze	Thank you
Amakuru	How are you? (formal)
Nimeza	(I'm) fine
Igicucu	Stupid person
Nkunda abaturage b'u Rwanda	I like Rwandan people
Ndi...	I am...
Abana	Children
Igiparu	Good conversation
Inka	Cow
Muraho	Hello
Murabeho	Bye
Ijororyiza	Good night
Mwaramutseho	Good morning (Did you wake up well?)
Izuba	sun
Ingurube	Pig
Inzu	House

References

★ Jouannet, Francis (ed.) (1983). ''Le Kinyarwanda, langue bantu du Rwanda''. Paris: Société d’Études Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France (SELAF).

★ Kimenyi, Alexandre (1980). ''A Relational Grammar of Kinyarwanda''. University of California Press.

★ Habumuremyi, Emmanuel et al. (2006). ''IRIZA-STARTER 2006: The 1st Kinyarwanda-English and English-Kinyarwanda Dictionary''. Kigali: Rural ICT-Net

External links

★ ''Ethnologue'' report on Rwanda

★ PanAfrican L10n page on Kinyarwanda ...