Languages of Zaire
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The official language of Zaire is French. Four other languages have the status of national language: Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili, and Tshiluba. There is an estimated total of 242 languages spoken (Ethnologue.com lists 214 living languages). When the country was a Belgian colony, the four national languages were already used in primary schools, which make the country one of the few to have had literacy in local languages during the occupation by Europeans.
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[edit] French
French is the national language of the country since its colonial period under Belgian rule. The colonial language was kept as the official language at the time of independence because it was widely spoken around the educated groups in the country, it was ethnically neutral, and eased communication between all the different ethnic groups of Zaire.
[edit] Kikongo
The constitution says Kikongo is one of the national languages, but the term Kikongo can mean different languages. According to Ethnologue, Kikongo is a macro language that consists of several languages which may or may not be mutually intelligible.
There is variant of Kikango known as Kituba, also called Kikongo ya Leta (Kikongo of the government). Kituba has become a vernacular language in many urban centers including Kikwit, Bandundu, Matadi, Boma, and Muanda.
[edit] Lingala
Lingala is a language which gained its modern form in the colonial period, with the push of missionaries to uniformize and teach a local vehicular language. It was originally spoken in the upper Zaire River area but rapidly spread to the middle Zaire area and eventually became the major Bantu language in Kinshasa for many reasons.
Lingala is the official language of the Armed Forces of Zaire.
[edit] Swahili
Swahili is the most spoken vehicular language spoken in eastern equatorial Africa. Many variations of Swahili are spoken in the country but the major one is Kingwana (sometimes called Copperbelt Swahili), especially in the Shaba area.
[edit] Tshiluba
The constitution does not specify which variation of Tshiluba is a national language. There are two major variations of Tshiluba: Luba-Kasai, spoken in the east Kasai region (Luba people) and Luba-Lulua, in the west Kasai region (Bena Lulua people).
[edit] Sign languages
There are 12 deaf institutions in the country; most teach French Sign Language or variations. American Sign Language is also spoken in the country.
[edit] Other languages
The most noticeable languages of Zaire are Mongo, Lunda, Tetela, Chokwe, Budza, Lendu, Mangbetu, Nande, Ngbaka, etc.
Note: This article comes from Wikipedia, which is in the public domain.
