The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Kirundi

(also Rwanda, Urunyarwanda, or Kinyarwanda), the language of the Barundi peoples, spoken in Rwanda and the border areas of Burundi, the Republic of Zaire, continental Tanzania, and Uganda. There are more than 4.5 million speakers (1967).

Kirundi is related to the Bantu family. Its phonetic structure is characterized by vowel contraction and elision, realization of Dahl’s law (dissimilation of consonants), and the presence of the interdental consonants voiced [ð] and voiceless [θ]. Tones are present and perform distinctive functions. Kirundi grammatical structure is characterized by the existence of 19 nominal classes. Prefixes are disyllabic. In addition to the three usual locative classes in Bantu languages, Kirundi has a fourth locative class, with the prefix e-.

REFERENCES

Schumacher, P. P. “La phonétique du Kinyarwanda.” Anthropos, 1921–22, vols. 16–17; 1923–24, vols. 18–19; 1929, vol. 24; 1931, vol. 26.
Doke, C. M. Bantu: Modern Grammatical, Phonetical and Lexicographical Studies Since 1860. London, 1945.

N. V. OKHOTINA

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References in periodicals archive

Mr Kirundi claimed that after the expiry of the 10-year contract between the factory and KTDA on June 30, the board decided to take charge in running the affairs of the factory, a move that led to the hiring of new guards."The contract between Kiru Te Factory and KTDA lapsed on the night of June 30 after the agency failed to negotiate with the board for a review in accordance to the demands of the board and that's how the board decided to take charge," Mr Kirundi said.

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The world's library deserves Gertrude Stein in Amharic, George Orwell in Kirundi, Adonis in Burmese, Ngugi wa Thiong'o in Isthmus Zapotec.

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Last summer, Twese for Peace, using the word for ''everyone'' in Burundi's predominant language of Kirundi, hosted 35 young people during a 12-day camp, held at a boarding school in Bujumbura.

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Priority languages Include: Acholi Amharic Arabic (Sudanese) Chaldean Creole Dari Eastern Kaya Ewe Falam (Chin) Fur Gan Haka (Chin) Ikbo Kachin Kakwa Khmer Kikuyu Kingoni Kono Kpelle Krio Kurdish (Sorani) Lao Liberian Pidgin Loko Luo Madi Maru Mende Mina Nepali Nuer Oromo Sinhalese Siym Sukuma Tamil Temne Tidim (Chin) Tshiluba Twi Ulghur Yalunka Zande Zomi (Chin) Bari Burmese Dinka Dzhongka Fanti Fula Hazaragi Hmong Kannadai Karen Kinyarwanda Kirundi Kuku Kurdish (Kurmanji) Lingala Lisu Mandingo Mara (Chin) Mizo (Chin) Moru Pojulu Rohingya Susu Swahili Tigre Tigrinya Uzbek Watchi Zonot (Chin) References

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