View source for Kirundi

{{Short description|Bantu language of Burundi and adjacent states}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Rundi
| nativename       = ''Ikirundi''
| states           = [[Burundi]]
| region           = 
| ethnicity        = [[Hutu]]<br/>[[Tutsi]]<br/>[[Great Lakes Twa|Twa]]<br/>[[Ganwa]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|13.185850|2}} million
| date             = 2021
| ref              = e27
|dia1=Ikibo 
|dia2=Ikirundi
|dia3=Ikiragane 
|dia4=Igisoni 
|dia5=Ikinyabweru 
|dia6=Ikiyogoma 
|dia7=Ikimoso
| familycolor      = Niger-Congo
| fam2             = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
|fam3=[[Volta-Congo]]
| fam4=[[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]]
|fam5=[[Bantoid]]
|fam6=[[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern Bantoid]]
|fam7=[[Bantu languages|Bantu]]
|fam8=[[Northeast Bantu languages|Northeast Bantu]]
|fam9=[[Great Lakes Bantu languages|Great Lakes Bantu]]
|fam10=[[Western Lakes Bantu languages|Western Lakes Bantu]]
|fam11=[[Rwanda-Rundi languages|Rwanda-Rundi]]
|fam12=Rundic
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]]
| nation           = {{BDI}}
| iso1             = rn
| iso1comment      = Rundi
| iso2             = run
| iso2comment      = Rundi
| iso3             = run
| iso3comment      = Rundi
| glotto           = rund1242
| glottoname       = Rundi
| glotto2          = rund1241
| glottoname2      = Rundi-Kitwa
| guthrie          = JD.62
| notice           = IPA
}} {{Infobox ethnonym|'''Umu'''rundi|'''Aba'''rundi|'''Iki'''rundi|'''u Bu'''rundi}}

'''Kirundi''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɪ|ˈ|r|ʊ|n|d|i|,_|-|ˈ|r|ʌ|n|-}}), also known as '''Rundi''', is a [[Bantu language]] and the [[national language]] of [[Burundi]]. It is [[mutually intelligible]] with [[Kinyarwanda]], the national language of [[Rwanda]], and the two form parts of the [[Rwanda-Rundi]] [[dialect continuum]] spoken in Burundi, Rwanda, [[Tanzania]], [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], [[Uganda]], and [[Kenya]].<ref name="ethn">{{Ethnologue15|run}}</ref>

Kirundi is natively spoken by the [[Hutu]] (including the [[Bakiga]]), [[Tutsi]], [[Twa]], and the [[Hima people]]; other related ethnicities have also adopted Kirundi as their mother tongue. Neighbouring dialects of Kirundi are mutually intelligible with [[Ha language|Ha]], a language spoken in western [[Tanzania]].

Kirundi is one of the languages where [[Meeussen's rule]], a rule describing a certain pattern of tonal change in Bantu languages, is active.

In 2020, the Rundi Academy was established to help standardize and promote Kirundi.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rigumye |first=Mariette |title=Longtemps attendue, l'Académie Rundi ouvre sous peu |lang=fr |website=IWACU |url=https://www.iwacu-burundi.org/longtemps-attendue-lacademie-rundi-ouvre-sous-peu/ |access-date=2021-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104091005/https://www.iwacu-burundi.org/longtemps-attendue-lacademie-rundi-ouvre-sous-peu/ |archive-date=2020-11-04 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

[[File:Bicycles in Burundi.jpg|thumb|The Kirundi text on the back of the truck warns cyclists not to hold on to it.]]

==Phonology==
{{See also|Rwanda-Rundi#Comparison of Kinyarwanda and Kirundi}}

===Consonants===
Although the literature on Rundi agrees on 5 vowels, the number of consonants can vary anywhere from 19 to 26 consonants.{{sfn|Zorc|Nibagwire|2007|p=23}} The table below is compiled from a survey of academic acceptance of Rundi consonants.{{sfn|Zorc|Nibagwire|2007|p=25}}
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-
! colspan=2 | 
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}}
| {{IPAlink|n}}
|
| {{IPAlink|ɲ}}
| {{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
! <small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|p}}
| {{IPAlink|t}}
|
|
| {{IPAlink|k}}
|
|-
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|b}}
| {{IPAlink|d}}
|
| {{IPAlink|ɟ}}
| {{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| {{IPAlink|p͡f}}
| {{IPAlink|t͡s}}
| {{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! <small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|f}}
| {{IPAlink|s}}
| {{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|
|
| {{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|v}}
| {{IPAlink|z}}
| {{IPAlink|ʒ}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
|
|
| {{IPAlink|j}}
| {{IPAlink|w}}
|
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
| {{IPAlink|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPAlink|r}}
|
|
|
|
|}

===Vowels===
The table below gives the vowel sounds of Rundi.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|- align=center
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|- align=center
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|- align=center
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan=2 | {{IPA link|a}}
|}

All five vowels occur in [[long vowel|long]] and [[short vowel|short]] forms. The distinction is [[phoneme|phonemic]].{{sfn|Meeussen|1959}}

===Tone===
Rundi is a [[tonal language]].  There are two essential tones in Rundi: high and low (or H and L).  Since Rundi has phonemic distinction on vowel length, when a long vowel changes from a low tone to a high tone it is marked as a rising tone.  When a long vowel changes from a high tone to a low tone, it is marked as a falling tone.{{sfn|de Samie|2009}}

Rundi is often used in phonology to illustrate examples of [[Meeussen's rule]]{{sfn|Myers|1987}}{{sfn|Philippson|1998}}<!-- Nurse & Phillipson (sic) 2003 ? --> In addition, it has been proposed that tones can shift by a metrical or rhythmic structure.  Some authors have expanded these more complex features of the tonal system noting that such properties are highly unusual for a tone system.{{sfn|Goldsmith|Sabimana|1989}}

===Phonotactics===
Syllable structure in Rundi is considered to be CV, that is having no clusters, no coda consonants, and no complex vowel nuclei.  It has been proposed that sequences that are CVV in the surface realization are actually CV in the underlying [[deep structure]], with the consonant coalescing with the first vowel.{{sfn|Sagey|1986}}

===Consonant harmony===
Rundi has been shown to have properties of [[consonant harmony]] particularly when it comes to sibilants.  Meeussen described this harmony in his essay and it is investigated further by others.{{sfn|Ntihirageza|1993}} One example of this harmony is triggered by {{IPA|/ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/ʒ/}} and targets the set of {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} in preceding adjacent stem syllables.

== Official use ==
[[File:Church of the Pater Noster rn.jpg|thumb|The [[Lord's Prayer]] in Kirundi ([[Church of the Pater Noster]])]]
Kirundi was recognized an [[official language]] in Burundi by the 1962 [[Constitution of the Kingdom of Burundi]]. In accordance with the constitution, many Burundian government orders, especially those printed in the ''Bulletin Officiel du Burundi'' from 1962 to 1963, were written in both French and Kirundi. After the constitution was suspended in 1966, Kirundi remained a ''de facto'' official language in the country, though its use in government documents declined.{{sfn|Verdoodt|2011|p=515}} In 1972, Kirundi was adopted as the official language of instruction in Burundian primary schools.{{sfn|Weinstein|1976|p=89}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite journal |last1=Broselow |first1=Ellen |last2=Niyondagara |first2=Alice  |date=Spring 1990 |url=https://archive.org/details/studiesinlinguis2019901991univ |title=Feature geometry of Kirundi palatalization |journal=Studies in the Linguistic Sciences |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=71–88 |issn=0049-2388}}
* {{cite book |last=de Samie |first=Thierry |year=2009 |title=Dictionnaire français-kirundi |publisher=L'Harmattan |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-296-09185-6 |edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book |last1=Goldsmith |first1=John |last2=Sabimana |first2=Firmard |year=1989 |chapter=The Kirundi Verb |title=Modèles en tonologie: kirundi et kinyarwanda |publisher=Editions du CNRS |location=Paris |isbn=9782222043232 |chapter-url=http://www.people.cs.uchicago.edu/~jagoldsm/papers/1985%20Kirundi.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124215856/https://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~jagoldsm/papers/1985%20Kirundi.pdf |archive-date=2022-11-24 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Meeussen |first=A. E. |year=1959 |title=Essai de grammaire Rundi |series=Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Série Sciences Humaines – Linguistique |volume=24 |location=Tervuren}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Myers |first=Scott P. |year=1987 |title=Tone and the structure of words in Shona |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=University of Massachusetts |location=Amherst |url=https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8805958/ |id={{ProQuest|303602751}}}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Ntihirageza |first=J. |year=1993  |title=Kirundi Palatization and Sibilant Harmony: Implications for Feature Geometry |type=Master thesis |publisher=Southern Illinois University |location=Carbondale}}
* {{cite book |last=Philippson |first=Gérard |year=1998 |chapter=Tone reduction vs. metrical attraction in the evolution of Eastern Bantu tone systems |editor-last1=Hyman |editor-first1=Larry M. |editor-last2=Kisseberth |editor-first2=Charles W. |pages=315–329 |title=Theoretical Aspects of Bantu Tone |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=1575860953 }} 
* {{cite thesis |last=Sagey |first=Elizabeth Caroline |year=1986  |url=http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/dm/theses/sagey86.pdf |title=The Representation of Features and Relations in Non-Linear Phonology |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=MIT |location=Cambridge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050322002020/http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/dm/theses/sagey86.pdf |archive-date=2005-03-22 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Verdoodt |first=A. |chapter=Social and Linguistic Structures of Burundi, a Typical 'Unimodal' Country |title=Language and Society: Anthropological Issues |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |edition=reprint |date=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHgQp8SKvkgC |isbn=9783110806489 |pages=509–532}}
* {{cite book |last=Weinstein |first=Warren |title=Historical Dictionary of Burundi |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date=1976 |location=Metuchen, NJ |isbn=9780810809628 |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000wein_e0d2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Zorc |first1=R. David |last2=Nibagwire |first2=Louise |year=2007 |title=Kinyarwanda and Kirundi Comparative Grammar |publisher=Dunwoody Press |location=Hyattsville, MD |url=https://zorc.net/publications/121=Kinyarwanda&KirundiComparativeGrammar.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714063724/https://zorc.net/publications/121=Kinyarwanda&KirundiComparativeGrammar.pdf |archive-date=2022-07-14}}

== External links ==
{{InterWiki|code=rn}}
* [https://www.matana.de/ Online Kirundi/English dictionary, revised]
* [https://www.matana.de/kirundi.pdf Free English-Kirundi Dictionary]
* [https://www.matana.de/kirundi%20I.pdf Free Kirundi selfstudy course]
* [https://www.matana.de/kirundi%20II.pdf Free Kirundi grammar study book]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070321212136/http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/RwandaRundi PanAfrican L10n page on Kirundi...]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513124329/http://cecilia.ls.fi.upm.es/~jmartinez/wiki/index.php/Learning_Kirundi Learning Kirundi] (in Spanish)
* [http://amajambo.ijuru.com/ Online Kirundi/English dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801021745/http://amajambo.ijuru.com/ |date=2008-08-01 }}
* [https://www.livelingua.com/fsi-kirundi-course.php USA Foreign Service Institute Kirundi basic course]

{{Languages of Burundi}}
{{Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
{{Languages of Uganda}}
{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones C–D)}}
{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones J–M)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages of Burundi]]
[[Category:Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Languages of Tanzania]]
[[Category:Languages of Uganda]]
[[Category:Rwanda-Rundi languages]]