Not to be confused with Ginyanga language or Kimanianga 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...
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...
Zimbabwe Nyanga National Park in Zimbabwe Nyanga, Western Cape, a township in South Africa Nyangalanguage (ISO 639/3 code nyj) Nyanga-li language (ISO 639/3...
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...
Swahili, also known by its local name Kiswahili, is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique...
The Bantu languages (English: UK: /ˌbænˈtuː/, US: /ˈbæntuː/ Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a language family of about 600 languages that are spoken by the Bantu...
(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...
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...
for a maroon colony of freed Africans. Gaspar Yanga—often simply Yanga or Nyanga (May 14, 1545 - 1618) was an African who led a maroon colony of enslaved...
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...
principal peoples of the territory are: Nyanga (see Nyangalanguage) Kanu (see Kanu language) Kobo Hunde (see Hunde language) (primarily in Masisi and Rutshuru...
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...
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...
known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda. It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Burundi 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...
Basaa (also spelled Bassa, Basa, Bissa), or Mbene, is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by the Basaa people. It is spoken by about 300,000 people in...
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...
Lunda, also known as Chilunda, is a Bantu language spoken in Zambia, Angola and, to a lesser extent, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Lunda...
Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix chi- is used for languages, so the language is...
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...
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...