Skip to content
Kinyarwanda

Patrickwest12 · BY-SA · by-sa

EntityQ33573· pop 91· linked from 774 articles

Kinyarwanda

Sign in to save

Also known as Rwanda language, Rwandan, Ruanda language, Kinyarwanda language, Nyarwanda, Nyarwanda language, Rwandan language, Rwanda

Kinyarwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda. It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is also spoken in Uganda, where the dialect is known as Ikinyakore, Rufumbira, or Urufumbira. Kinyarwanda is universal among the native population of Rwanda and is mutually intelligible with Kirundi, the national language of neighbouring Burundi.

AI overview

Kinyarwanda is a Bantu language spoken throughout Rwanda as its national language, and it is mutually intelligible with Kirundi, the national language of neighboring Burundi. The language is also spoken in Uganda under different names and remains universal among Rwanda's native population.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Language.name
Kinyarwanda
Language.nativename
Ikinyarwanda
Language.states
Rwanda, Uganda
Language.ethnicity
Banyarwanda
Language.speakers
million
Language.date
2014–2024
Language.ref
e27
Language.familycolor
Niger-Congo
Language.fam2
Atlantic–Congo
Language.fam3
Volta-Congo
Language.fam4
Benue–Congo
Language.fam5
Bantoid
Language.fam6
Southern Bantoid
Language.fam7
Bantu
Language.fam8
Northeast Bantu
Language.fam9
Great Lakes Bantu
Language.fam10
Western Lakes Bantu
Language.fam11
Rwanda-Rundi

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Show 6 more facts
Commons category
Kinyarwanda language
Wikimedia language code
rw
native label
Kinyarwanda
number of speakers, writers, or signers
9300000
Sources (13)

via Wikidata · CC0

~12 min read

Article

14 sections
Contents
  • Geographic distribution
  • Phonology
  • Consonants
  • Vowels
  • Tone
  • Orthography
  • Grammar
  • Nouns
  • Verbs
  • Causatives
  • Notes
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Kinyarwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda. It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is also spoken in Uganda, where the dialect is known as Ikinyakore, Rufumbira, or Urufumbira. Kinyarwanda is universal among the native population of Rwanda and is mutually intelligible with Kirundi, the national language of neighbouring Burundi.

In 2010, the Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture (RALC) 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.

Connections

Categories