Kongo language

Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from the region and sold as slaves in the Americas. For this reason, while Kongo still is spoken in the above-mentioned countries, creolized forms of the language are found in ritual speech of Afro-American religions, especially in Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname. It is also one of the sources of the Gullah language and the Palenquero creole in Colombia. The vast majority of present-day speakers live in Africa. There are roughly seven million native speakers of Kongo, with perhaps two million more who use it as a second language.

Not to be confused with Kituba language (called Kikongo ya leta by its speakers), called Kikongo in the Constitution of Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For the genus of spiders, see Kikongo (spider).
Kongo
Kikongo
Native toDR Congo (Kongo Central), Angola, Republic of the Congo, Gabon
EthnicityBakongo
Native speakers
(c. 6.5 million cited 1982–2012)
5 million L2 speakers in DRC (perhaps Kituba)
Latin, Mandombe
Official status
Official language in
National language and unofficial language:
 Angola
Language codes
ISO 639-1kg
ISO 639-2kon
ISO 639-3kon – inclusive code
Individual codes:
kng – Koongo
ldi – Ladi, Laadi, Lari or Laari
kwy – San Salvador Kongo (South)
yom – Yombe
Glottologyomb1244  Yombe
H.14–16
Map of the area where Kongo and Kituba are spoken, Kituba as a lingua franca. Kisikongo (also called Kisansala by some authors) is the Kikongo spoken in Mbanza Kongo.
The Kongo language
PersonmuKongo, musi Kongo, muisi Kongo, mwisi Kongo, nKongo
PeoplebaKongo, bisi Kongo, besi Kongo, esiKongo, aKongo
LanguagekiKongo
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