Luba-Kasai language

Not to be confused with Kiluba, a related Luba language.

"Tshiluba" redirects here. For the Zambian president, see Frederick Chiluba.

Luba-Kasai, also known as Cilubà or Tshilubà,^[3] Luba-Lulua,^[4][5] is a Bantu language (Zone L) of Central Africa and a national language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, alongside Lingala, Swahili, and Kikongo ya leta.

Tshiluba, Ciluba
Native to	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Region	Kasai Kasai-Occidental Kasai-Oriental
Ethnicity	Baluba-Kasai (Bena-kasai)
Native speakers	15 million (2024)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu Luban Luba languages Tshiluba, Ciluba
Dialects	Ciluba-Lubilanji /Cena-Lubilanji (in Mbuji-Mayi, Kinshasa as well as Tshilenge district, and western Gandajika territory) Cena-Lulua (in Kananga, central-northern Lulua district, and eastern Luebo territory) Cikwa-Nyambi (in Northern Kamonia territory & Tshikapa) Cikwa-Luntu (in Dimbelenge territory)
Official status
Official language in	Democratic Republic of Congo (national language)
Language codes
ISO 639-2	lua
ISO 639-3	lua
Glottolog	luba1249
Guthrie code	L.31[2]
Location of speakers:   Luba-Kasai   Luba-Katanga

Pidgin Chiluba
Native to	DR Congo
Native speakers	None
Language family	Luba-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None
Guthrie code	L.30A[2]

An eastern dialect is spoken by the Luba people of the East Kasai Region and a western dialect by the Lulua people of the West Kasai Region. The total number of speakers was estimated at 6.3 million in 1991.

Within the Zone L Bantu languages, Luba-Kasai is one of a group of languages which form the "Luba" group, together with Kaonde (L40), Kete (L20), Kanyok, Luba-Katanga (KiLuba), Sanga, Zela and Bangubangu. The L20, L30 and L60 languages are also grouped as the Luban languages within Zone L Bantu.

Geographic distribution and dialects

Tshiluba is chiefly spoken in a large area in the Kasaï Occidental and Kasaï Oriental provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, the differences in Tshiluba within the area are minor, consisting mostly of differences in tones and vocabulary, and speakers easily understand one another. Both dialects have subdialects.

Additionally, there is also a pidginised variety of Tshiluba,^[2] especially in cities, where the everyday spoken Tshiluba is enriched with French words and even words from other languages, such as Lingala or Swahili. Nevertheless, it is not a typical form of a pidgin since it is not common to everyone but changes its morphology and the quantity and degree to which words from other languages are used. Its form changes depending on who speaks it and varies from city to city and social class to social class. However, people generally speak the regular Tshiluba language in their daily lives, rather than pidgin.

The failure of the language to be taught at school has resulted in the replacement of native words by French words for the most part. For instance, people speaking generally count in French, rather than Tshiluba. The situation of French and Tshiluba being used simultaneously made linguists mistakenly think that the language had been pidginised.^{[citation needed]}

Vocabulary

Western dialects	Eastern dialects	English
meme	mema	me
ne	ni	with
nzolo/nsolo	nzolu	chicken
bionso	bionsu	everything
luepu	mukela (e)	salt
kapia	mudilu	fire
bidia	nshima	maize meal
makelela	malaba	yesterday/ tomorrow
lupepe	luhepa	wind
Mankaji (shi)/tatu mukaji	tatu mukaji	aunty
bimpe	bimpa	well/good

Alphabet

Luba-Kasai uses the Latin alphabet, with the digraphs ng, ny and sh but without the letters q, r and x:^[6]

Phonology

Tshiluba has a 5 vowel system with vowel length:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

The chart shows the consonants of Tshiluba.

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p		t	tʃ	k
	voiced	b		d
	vl. prenasal	ᵐp		ⁿt	ⁿtʃ	ᵑk
	vd. prenasal	ᵐb		ⁿd
Fricative	voiceless	(ɸ)	f	s	ʃ		h
	voiced		v	z	ʒ
	vl. prenasal		ᶬf	ⁿs	ⁿʃ
	vd. prenasal		ᶬv	ⁿz	ⁿʒ
Nasal		m		n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant				l	j	w

• /p/ may also have the sound [ɸ].
• If a /d/ is preceding an /i/, it may also be pronounced as an affricate sound [dʒ].

Sample text

According to The Rosetta Project,^[7] Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights translates to:

Bantu bonsu badi baledibwa badikadile ne badi ne makokeshi amwe. Badi ne lungenyi lwa bumuntu ne kondo ka moyo, badi ne bwa kwenzelangana malu mu buwetu.

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

According to Learn Tshiluba (Mofeko):

Mukayi wuani udi mu bujimi

"My wife is on the farm"^[8]

Mulunda wanyi mujikija kalasa Uenda mu tshidimu tshishala

"My friend completed his/her studies last year" ^[9]