Kinyarwanda
Language · official in 1 country
Ikinyarwanda is the official form of the name, and the language is one dialect of Rwanda-Rundi, mutually intelligible with Kirundi across the border in Burundi. It is universal among Rwanda's native population and is the country's national language. A second form, Ikinyakore or Rufumbira, is spoken in Uganda, and the language is also heard in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The language on record
- Own name
- Ikinyarwanda
- ISO 639-1
- RW
- ISO 639-3
- KIN
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Bantu
- Official in
- 1 country
Where Kinyarwanda is official
Rwanda is the one record. Kinyarwanda is its national language and shares official status there with English, French and Swahili.
Official beside Kinyarwanda
About Kinyarwanda
Why an academy for Kinyarwanda was set up
The Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture was founded in 2010 to promote and sustain the language. In 2014 it attempted a spelling reform, which met resistance, partly because it was seen as imposed from above and political.
What Kinyarwanda spelling does not show
Rw, as in Rwanda, is normally said with a g sound inside it, because the glides w and y harden into stops within consonant clusters. Before ki and ke, speakers choose freely between a k and a ch-like sound in most words. Final a, e and i drop before a following vowel in speech but stay on the page, as the national anthem shows: tukuvuge ibigwi is said tukuvug' ibigwi.
How the verb is built
Kinyarwanda is tonal, with a contrast of high and low. It uses 16 of the Bantu noun classes. Every infinitive begins with ku-, which becomes gu- before a stem starting with a voiceless consonant under Dahl's Law. Each regular verb has three stems, and tense markers such as -ra- for the present progressive and -za- for the future sit between the subject prefix and the stem.
Common questions
Questions about Kinyarwanda
Can Kinyarwanda and Kirundi speakers understand each other?
Yes. Both are forms of Rwanda-Rundi and are mutually intelligible.
Where else is Kinyarwanda spoken?
In Uganda, where its dialect goes by Ikinyakore, Rufumbira or Urufumbira, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Only Rwanda gives it official status on record.
Why is Rwanda pronounced with a g?
The w in rw hardens into a stop after the consonant, so Rwanda is usually said with a g before the w. The spelling does not show it, and a careful pronunciation without the g is also heard.