On this page/Sur cette page... (hide)
Chokwe (also spelled Cokwe) and Ruund are two distinct Bantu languages belonging to the Chokwe- Luchazi Group (Guthrie K10) and the Lunda Group (Guthrie L50) respectively. (Webbook)
According to Ethnologue: Chokwe: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, K, Chokwe-Luchazi (K.20) Ruund: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, K, Salampasu-Ndembo (K.30)
Dem. Rep. of the Congo (DRC), Angola, Zambia
Hoover reports that "Ruund (uRuund) is spoken in DRC (Shaba, Kasai, and Bandundu regions) and Angola," where it is known as "Lundu" or sometimes as "Lunda of Mwant Yav" to distinguish it from (chi)Ndembu, a quite distinct language spoken in DRC and Zambia, where it is also known as "Lunda." ... (Webbook)
Chokwe: 504,000 in DR Congo; 455,800 in Angola (1991); 44,200 in Zambia, (1986); Total=1,009,580 (Ethnologue)
Ruund: 152,845 in DR Congo (2000 WCD); 98,508 in Angola (2000 WCD); Total=152,845 (Ethnologue)
Total for both in all countries: 1,162,425
Nash (personal communication, 1985) reports that, because of its recent expansion, Chokwe shows little dialect variation, and that while there is considerable dialect variation in Ruund, they are mutually intelligible. However, no formal dialect surveys are known to us as of this writing. UNESCO/UNDP is sponsoring a project to prepare literacy and other types of materials in Chokwe. (Webbook)
Both Chokwe and Ruund are linguae francae. "Ruund is spoken in a wide band straddling the DRC/Angolan border" while "Chokwe is spoken in most of the areas where Ruund is spoken and also in much of northern Angola" (Nash, personal communication, 1985). While neither language has official government recognition, both were used in mission schools under colonial rule. (Webbook)
Uses a Latin-based orthography. No information on standardization
"Language Museum" samples (NB- these may not be standard or official orthographies):
ULUMBUNWISO WAKUTELA WA MUTHU MWESWE (Universal Declaration of Human Rights): http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/cjk.htm
None known of.
Chokwe
Ruund
Presumably one localisation for Chokwe would be the immediate goal. Need more information on orthographies in countries where it is spoken.
Dwyer, David (1997), Webbook of African Languages, http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/hiermenu.html (page on "Chokwe/Ruund," http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/Chokwe_Ruund-root.html )
SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Chokwe," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cjk
______, "Ruund," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rnd
SIL International, "ISO 639 Code Tables," http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp
U.S. Library of Congress, "ISO 639.2: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages: Alpha-3 codes arranged alphabetically by the English name of language," http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php
< Chewa, Nyanja | Major Languages | Dagaare >
