Kinyarwanda,[3]Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda,[4] is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda.[5] It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is also spoken in Burundi and adjacent parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where there is a dialect known as Rufumbira or Urufumbira) and Tanzania. Kinyarwanda is universal among the native population of Rwanda and is mutually intelligible with Kirundi, the national language of neighbouring Burundi.[6] Kinyabwishya and Kinyamulenge are mutually intelligible dialects spoken in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces of neighbouring DR Congo.
In 2010, the Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture (RALC)[7] was established to help promote and sustain Kinyarwanda. The organization attempted an orthographic reform in 2014, but it was met with pushback due to their perceived top-down and political nature, among other reasons.[8]
Kinyarwanda is a tonal language. Like many Bantu languages, it has a two-way contrast between high and low tones (low-tone syllables may be analyzed as toneless). The realization of tones in Kinyarwanda is influenced by a complex set of phonological rules.
Except in a few morphological contexts, the sequences 'ki' and 'ke' may be pronounced interchangeably as [ki] and [ke] or [ci] and [ce] according to speaker's preference.[9]
The letters '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. For example, 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."
There are some discrepancies in pronunciation from orthographic Cw and Cy. The glides /wj/ strengthen to stops in consonant clusters. For example, rw (as in Rwanda) is normally pronounced [ɾɡw]. The differences are the following:
Orthog.
Pron.
mw
[mŋ]
ŋ
nw
[nŋw]
ŋw
nyw
[ɲŋw] or [ŋwa]
pw
[pk]
k
fw
[fk]
pfw
[p͡fk]
bw
[bɡ]
g
vw
[vɡ]
tw
[tkw]
kw
tsw
[t͡skw]
cw
[t͡ʃkw]
sw
[skw]
shw
[ʃkw]
dw
[dɡw]
gw
zw
[zɡw]
jw
[ʒɡw]
rw
[ɾɡw]
my
[mɲ]
ɲ
py
[pc]
c
ty
[tc]
sy
[sc]
by
[bɟ]
ndy
[ndɟ]
ɟ
ry
[ɾɟ]
These are all sequences; [bɡ], for example, is not labial-velar[ɡ͡b]. Even when Rwanda is pronounced [ɾwaːnda] rather than [ɾɡwaːnda], the onset is a sequence, not a labialized[ɾʷ].
Grammar
Nouns
Kinyarwanda uses 16 of the Bantunoun classes. Sometimes these are grouped into 10 pairs so that most singular and plural forms of the same word are included in the same class. The table below shows the 16 noun classes and how they are paired in two commonly used systems.
Prefix
Classification
Number
Typical words
Example
Bantu
Cox
???
umu-
1
1
singular
humans
umuntu – person
aba-
2
plural
abantu – people
umu-
3
2
singular
trees, shrubs and things that extend
umusozi – hill
imi-
4
plural
imisozi – hills
iri-
5
5
3
singular
things in quantities, liquids
iryinyo – tooth
ama-
6
5/8/9
3/8/9
plural (also substances)
amenyo – teeth
iki-
7
4
singular
generic, large, or abnormal things
ikintu – thing
ibi-
8
plural
ibintu – things
in-
9
3
5
singular
some plants, animals and household implements
inka – cow
in-
10
3/6
5/6
plural
inka – cows
uru-
11
6
singular
mixture, body parts
urugo – home
aka-
12
7
singular
diminutive forms of other nouns
akantu – little thing
utu-
13
plural
utuntu – little things
ubu-
14
8
n/a
abstract nouns, qualities or states
ubuntu – generosity
uku-
15
9
n/a
actions, verbal nouns and gerunds
ukuntu – means
aha-
16
10
n/a
places, locations
ahantu – place
Verbs
All Kinyarwanda verb infinitives begin with ku- (morphed into k(w)- before vowels, and into gu- before stems beginning with a voiceless consonant due to Dahl's Law). To conjugate, the infinitive prefix is removed and replaced with a prefix agreeing with the subject. Then a tense marker can be inserted.
Singular
Plural
Corresp. Noun Class
before consonants
before vowels
Corresp. Noun Class
before consonants
before vowels
1st person
n-/m-
n-
tu-/du-
tw-
2nd person
u-
w-
mu-
mw-
I
1
a-
y-
2
ba-
b-
II
3
u-
w-
4
i-
y-
III
5
ri-
ry-
6
a-
y-
IV
7
ki-
cy-
8
bi-
by-
V
9
i-
y-
10
zi-
z-
VI
11
ru-
rw-
10
zi-
z-
VII
12
ka-
k-
13
tu-
tw-
VIII
14
bu-
bw-
16
bu-
bw-
IX
15
ku-
k(w)-
16
a-
y-
X
16
ha-
h-
16
ha-
h-
The class I prefixes y-/a- and ba- correspond to the third person for persons. The personal prefix n- becomes m- before a labial sound (p, b, f, v), while personal prefix tu- becomes du- under Dahl's Law.
Singular
Plural
Full pronoun
Subject prefix
Full pronoun
Subject prefix
1st person
njye(we)
n-/m-
mwe(bwe)
tu-/du-
2nd person
wowe
u-/w-
twe(bwe)
mu-/mw-
3rd person
we
a-/y-
bo
ba-
Every regular verb has three stems: the imperfective (ending in the morpheme -a), the perfective (ending in the morpheme -:ye, which may trigger a variety of morphophonological changes in the preceding segment) and the subjunctive (ending in the morpheme -e).
According to Botne (1983), a verb may belong to any of eight Aktionsart categories, which may be broadly grouped into stative and dynamic categories. In the immediate tense, dynamic verbs take the imperfective stem while stative verbs take the perfective stem, while both use the imperfective stem in the habitual or gnomic tense.
Simple tense/mood markers include the following:
With the present stem:
Present ('I do'): - (no infix)
Present Progressive ('I am doing'): -ra- (assimilates to -da- when preceded by n)
Habitual Past ('I used to do/was doing'): -a- plus -ga suffixed to the verb
Future ('I will do'): -za-
With the past stem:
Polite Imperative ('Let me do'; 'please do'): - (no infix)
Perfect ('I have done/I did'): -a-
Near Past ('I just did'): -ra- (assimilates to -da- when preceded by n)
Preterite ('I did'): -ara-
Subjunctive ('that I do/did'): -za-
Object affixes corresponding to the noun classes of an object may be placed after the tense marker and before the verb stem:
Singular
Plural
Corresp. Noun Class
before consonants
before vowels
Corresp. Noun Class
before consonants
before vowels
1st person
-n-/-m-
-ny-
-tu-/-du-
-tw-
2nd person
-ku-/-gu-
-kw-
-ba-
-b-
I
1
-mu-
-mw-
2
-ba-
-b-
II
3
-wu-
-w-
4
-yi-
-y-
III
5
-ri-
-ry-
6
-ya-
-y-
IV
7
-ki-
-cy-
8
-bi-
-by-
V
9
-yi-
-y-
16
-zi-
-z-
VI
11
-ru-
-rw-
10
-zi-
-z-
VII
12
-ka-/-ga-
-k-
13
-tu-/-du-
-tw-
VIII
14
-bu-
-bw-
16
-ya-
-y-
IX
15
-ku-/-gu-
-kw-
16
-ya-
-y-
X
16
-ha-
-h-
16
-ha-
-h-
The personal object affixes are as follows:
Singular
Plural
Full pronoun
Object affix
Full pronoun
Object affix
1st person
njye(we)
-n-/-m- (cons.) -ny- (vowel)
mwebwe
tu-/du- (cons.) -tw- (vowel)
2nd person
wowe
-ku-/-gu- (cons.) -kw- (vowel)
twe(bwe)
-ba- (cons.) -b- (vowel)
3rd person
we
-mu- (cons.) -mw- (vowel)
bo
-ba- (cons.) -b- (vowel)
Causatives
Kinyarwanda employs the use of periphrastic causatives, in addition to morphological causatives.
The periphrastic causatives use the verbs -teer- and -tum-, which mean cause. With -teer-, the original subject becomes the object of the main clause, leaving the original verb in the infinitive (just like in English):[10]
(1a)
Ábáana
children
b-a-gii-ye.
they-PST-go-ASP
Ábáana b-a-gii-ye.
children they-PST-go-ASP
"The children left."
(1b)
Umugabo
man
y-a-tee-ye
he-PST-cause-ASP
ábáana
children
ku-geend-a.
INF-go-ASP
Umugabo y-a-tee-ye ábáana ku-geend-a.
man he-PST-cause-ASP children INF-go-ASP
"The man caused the children to go.
In this construction, the original S can be deleted.[11]
(2a)
Abantu
people
ba-rá-bon-a.
they-PRES-see-ASP
Abantu ba-rá-bon-a.
people they-PRES-see-ASP
"People see"
(2b)
Ku-geenda
INF-go
gu-teer-a
it-cause-ASP
(abaantu)
(people)
ku-bona.
INF-see
Ku-geenda gu-teer-a (abaantu) ku-bona.
INF-go it-cause-ASP (people) INF-see
"To travel causes to see."
With -túm-, the original S remains in the embedded clause and the original verb is still marked for person and tense:[12]
girl she-PST-cause-ASP I-PST-write-ASP letters many
"The girl caused me to write many letters."
Derivational causatives use the instrumental marker -iish-. The construction is the same, but it is instrumental when the subject is inanimate and it is causative when the subject is animate:[13]
(4a)
Umugabo
man
a-ra-andik-iish-a
he-PRES-write-CAUS-ASP
umugabo
man
íbárúwa.
letter
Umugabo a-ra-andik-iish-a umugabo íbárúwa.
man he-PRES-write-CAUS-ASP man letter
"The man is making the man write a letter."
(4b)
Umugabo
man
a-ra-andik-iish-a
he-PRES-write-INSTR-ASP
íkárámu
pen
íbárúwa.
letter
Umugabo a-ra-andik-iish-a íkárámu íbárúwa.
man he-PRES-write-INSTR-ASP pen letter
"The man is writing a letter with the pen."
This morpheme can be applied to intransitives (3) or transitives (4):[13]
(3a)
Ábáana
children
ba-rá-ryáam-ye.
they-PRES-sleep-ASP
Ábáana ba-rá-ryáam-ye.
children they-PRES-sleep-ASP
"The children are sleeping."
(3b)
Umugóre
woman
a-ryaam-iish-ije
she-sleep-CAUS-ASP
ábáana
children
Umugóre a-ryaam-iish-ije ábáana
woman she-sleep-CAUS-ASP children
"The woman is putting the children to sleep."
(4a)
Ábáana
children
ba-ra-som-a
they-PRES-read-ASP
ibitabo.
books
Ábáana ba-ra-som-a ibitabo.
children they-PRES-read-ASP books
"The children are reading the books."
(4b)
Umugabo
man
a-ra-som-eesh-a
he-PRES-read-CAUS-ASP
ábáana
children
ibitabo.
books
Umugabo a-ra-som-eesh-a ábáana ibitabo.
man he-PRES-read-CAUS-ASP children books
"The man is making the children read the books."
However, there can only be one animate direct object. If a sentence has two, one or both is deleted and understood from context.[14]
The suffix -iish- implies an indirect causation (similar to English have in "I had him write a paper), while other causatives imply a direct causation (similar to English make in "I made him write a paper").[15]
One of these more direct causation devices is the deletion of what is called a "neutral" morpheme -ik-, which indicates state or potentiality. Stems with the -ik- removed can take -iish, but the causation is less direct:[15]
-mének-
"be broken"
-mén-
"break"
-méneesh-
"have (something) broken"
-sáduk-
"be cut"
-sátur-
"cut"
-sátuz-
"have (something) cut"
Another direct causation maker is -y- which is used for some verbs:[16]
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Brack, Matthias; Musoni, Marie-Goretti (2021). Wörterbuch Kinyarwanda–Deutsch. Mit einer Einführung in Sprache und Grammatik. Study Books of African Languages (in German). Vol.25. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. ISBN978-3-89645-588-8.
Original Thesis: Kimenyi, Alexandre (1976). A Relational Grammar of Kinyarwanda(PDF) (PhD dissertation). Los Angeles: University of California. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 May 2017.
Rumford, James (2020). Ikinyarwanda. Honolulu: Manoa Press. ISBN9781891839245.
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