Languages ​​of the Republic of the Congo

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Many different languages ​​are spoken in the Republic of the Congo .

The country is an almost entirely Bantu-speaking area. In the east and north of the country there are small groups of speakers of the Cuban languages . However, even after the end of the French colonial era, the country's official language is French . So far, only two Bantu languages, namely Lingála (13% speakers) and Kituba (a variant of the largest indigenous language Kikongo ), have been declared "national languages" . All three languages ​​also serve as interethnic languages. Other major languages ​​are Mbosi and Teke (17.3%). In total, more than 40 other languages ​​are spoken, including pygmy languages (1.4%) that are not Bantu languages.

French is the official language

French is now spoken by 30% of the Congolese population. In the meantime, even 88% of people over 15 in the capital, Brazzaville, can write simple phrases in French.

Due to the civil war that rocked the country, the French language became the language for various armed militias. Speakers who do not speak Kituba (especially in the south), Kikongo and Lingala (especially those in the north) prefer to speak French for security reasons. Fear of revealing their ethnic group, the Congolese mostly switch to French, which helps them to maintain their anonymity.

National languages

Kituba (or Munukutuba ) is a simplified Kikongo Creol that is understandable for speakers of the various dialects of Kikongo. This language is spoken by 50.35% of the Congolese population who live along the Congo-Ocean railway line that connects Brazzaville with Pointe-Noire in the south of the country.

Lingála, the river language , is next to his mother tongue Teke, the second language of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and is mainly spoken in the north and east of the country. This is the language that has grown fastest in the Congo over the past few years.

Batékés make up 18% of the population and are mainly found in the Plateaus , Cuvette-Ouest (where they are known as “Mbeti” and “Tegue”), Niari (where they are known as “Nzabi”), Bouenza and the Region pool to be found.

Lari is a mixed language of the various idioms of the Congo and Teke and is the language that is most widely spoken in the Pool region.

literature

  • Omer Massoumou et Ambroise Jean-Marc Queffélec, Le français en République du Congo sous l'ère pluripartiste (1991–2006) , Paris, Éditions des archives contemporaines - Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, 2007, p. 451.
  • Jean-Alexis Mfoutou, La langue française au Congo Brazzaville Manifestation de l'activité langagière des sujets parlants , Éd. L'Harmattan, 2007, ISBN 978-2-296-03348-1 , p. 540.
  • Edouard Ngamountsika, Le français parlé en République du Congo: étude morphosyntaxique , Thèse de doctorat Nouveau Régime, Université Marien Ngouabi de Brazzaville & Université de Provence Aix Marseille 1, 2 Vol., 2007, p. 536.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Constitution de 2002 de la République du Congo
  2. ↑ Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France, référence 2006.
  3. ↑ Les usages linguistiques à Brazzaville la place du français , Omer Massoumou, Université Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville.
  4. ↑ Laval University : Le Congo-BRAZZAVILLE (République populaire)