Konjo language (Bantu)

Konjo
Olhukonzo
Native to	Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethnicity	Bakonjo
Native speakers	610,000 in Uganda (2002 census)
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

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).

Writing system

Konzo alphabet

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

		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.

Konzo's IPA vowel chart

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

Basic vocabulary

List of basic phrases and words.

• 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

Grammar

Verbs

The infinitive is indicated by the prefix eri- (before a consonant) or ery- (before a vowel). For example: ery'asa ("to come").

References

Works cited

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