Not to be confused with Ginyanga language or Kimanianga (Kimanyanga) language.
Nyanga
Kinyanga
Native to
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Region
Kivu Province, Walikale Territory
Ethnicity
Nyanga people
Native speakers
(150,000 cited 1994 census)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic–Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue–Congo
Bantoid
Southern Bantoid
Bantu (Zone D)
Nyanga–Buyi
Nyanga
Language codes
ISO 639-3
nyj
Glottolog
nyan1304
Guthrie code
D.43[2]
The Nyanga language (native name Kinyanga) is a language spoken by the Nyanga people in Kivu province, north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Speaker estimates range from 27,000 (Biebuyck & Matheene 1970) to 150,000 (1994 census). Many of the Nyanga speak Congo Swahili, the dominant regional lingua franca, as a second language. Nyanga is a Bantu language. Most of the (scarce) linguistic research conducted on Nyanga has been based on the materials published by Biebuyck and Mateene.
Nyanga literature is best known for the tales recorded by Daniel Biebuyck in 1956 and published in 1969 and 1970, including the Mwindo epic. This epic is titled after the main hero, Mwindo, a miraculously born Pygmy-like human being who possesses not only a magical sceptre but also the power of the word. It centers around Mwindo's travels and encounters during the search for his father.
In other Nyanga tales, the dog often plays an important role as a mythical animal, reflecting the importance of hunting dogs in Nyanga society.
^Nyanga at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
The Nyangalanguage (native name Kinyanga) is a language spoken by the Nyanga people in Kivu province, north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...
Nyanga may mean: Nyanga Province, of Gabon Nyanga, Gabon, a place in the province of Nyanga in Gabon Nyanga River, in Gabon and Congo Nyanga people, an...
They speak the Nyangalanguage, also called Kinyanga, which is one of the Bantu languages. There are about 150,000 speakers of Nyanga according to a 1994...
The Bantu languages (English: /ˈbæntuː/, Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, and Southeast...
Swahili, also known by its native name Kiswahili, is the native language of the Waswahili who are found along the East African coast and litoral islands...
endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million...
Buyu, or Buyi, is a Bantu language of Lake Tanganyika that is closely related to Nyanga. A "Bemba" language of South Kivu was listed in Ethnologue 17...
(Vili) : Nyanga, Ngounié Many African slaves transported in the Atlantic slave trade spoke Kikongo, and its influence can be seen in many creole languages in...
Venda or Tshivenda is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa. It is mainly spoken by the Venda people in the northern part of South...
isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million...
Shona (/ˈʃoʊnə/; Shona: chiShona) is a Bantu language of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. It was codified by the colonial government in the 1950s. According...
Northern Sotho, or Sesotho sa Leboa as an endonym, is a Sotho-Tswana language spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa. It is sometimes referred...
(Diriku) or Dirico (in Angola), also known as Manyo or Rumanyo, is a Bantu language spoken by 305,000 people along the Okavango River in Namibia, Botswana...
Tsonga (/ˈtsɒŋɡə/) or Xitsonga (Tsonga: Xitsonga) as an endonym, is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of southern Africa. It is mutually intelligible...
principal peoples of the territory are: Nyanga (see Nyangalanguage) Kanu (see Kanu language) Kobo Hunde (see Hunde language) (primarily in Masisi and Rutshuru...
Meru is a Bantu language spoken by the Meru people (Ameru) who live on the Eastern and Northern slopes of Mount Kenya and on the Nyambene ranges. They...
The Swazi or siSwati language is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is...
Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi and Zimbabwe, where it is an official language, and...
Comorian (Shikomori, or Shimasiwa, the "language of islands") is the name given to a group of four Bantu languages spoken in the Comoro Islands, an archipelago...
the term Matabele, is a Bantu language spoken by the Northern Ndebele people which belongs to the Nguni group of languages. As a start and to give some...
The Gusii language (also known as Ekegusii) is a Bantu language spoken in Kisii and Nyamira counties in Nyanza Kenya, whose headquarters is Kisii Town...
Makhuwa (Emakhuwa; also spelt Makua and Macua) is the primary Bantu language of northern Mozambique. It is spoken by 4 million Makua people, who live north...
Bulu is a Bantu language of the Bulu people of Cameroon. The language had 174,000 native speakers in 1982, with some 800,000 second language speakers in 1991...
Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South...
Ewondo or Kolo is the language of the Ewondo people (more precisely Beti be Kolo or simply Kolo-Beti) of Cameroon. The language had 577,700 native speakers...
Mbere (Mbede, Mbete) is a Bantu language spoken in the Republic of Congo and Gabon. Mbere at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Jouni...
Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gikuyu: Gĩkũyũ [ɣēkōjó]) is a Bantu language spoken by the Gĩkũyũ (Agĩkũyũ) of Kenya. Kikuyu is spoken in the area between Nyeri and...
officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is an official language of Rwanda and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language spoken in Rwanda, the eastern Democratic Republic...
Lozi, also known as siLozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho–Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken...
West Kilimanjaro, or West Chaga, is a Bantu language of Tanzania spoken by the Chaga people. There are several dialects: Rwa (Rwo, Meru, Kirwo), or Meru...
The Mandi language, Nomaande (or Lemande), is a Southern Bantoid language of Cameroon. Mandi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Jouni...
The Bemba language, ChiBemba (also Cibemba, Ichibemba, Icibemba and Chiwemba), is a Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba...
Kalanga[pronunciation?], or TjiKalanga (in Zimbabwe), is a Bantu language spoken by the Kalanga people in Botswana and Zimbabwe. It has an extensive phoneme...
Yannick Nyanga (born 19 December 1983 in Kinshasa, Zaire) is a former professional rugby union player who played as a flanker for Racing 92 and France...
African language belonging to the Nguni group of Bantu languages, spoken by the Ndebele people of South Africa. There is also a different language called...
Kimakonde, is the language spoken by the Makonde, an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Makonde is a central Bantu language closely related...
Bantu language spoken by the Chokwe people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Zambia. It is recognised as a national language of Angola...
The Kombe language, or Ngumbi, is a Coastal Bantu language spoken by the Kombe people of Equatorial Guinea, one of the Ndowe peoples of the coast. It is...
The Ganda language or Luganda (/luːˈɡændə/, Oluganda, [oluɡâːndá]) is a Bantu language spoken in the African Great Lakes region. It is one of the major...
Global Information