2025
by Joshua Castillo, Boston University, USA
I argue that navigating Lingala represented a central part of many Zairians’ experiences of Mobutu’s regime (1965–97), causing linguistic change, shaping their relationships to state power, and influencing their experiences of the regime’s everyday authoritarianism. Mobutu’s regime imposed Lingala through informal language practices including political rallies, songs, and slogans, interactions with state agents, and Mobutu’s own practice of addressing audiences nation-wide in Lingala. Zairians navigated the regime’s imposition of Lingala in different, and often divergent ways along a spectrum from rejection and opposition to acquisition and embrace. Where some Zairians, especially Kiswahili speakers in the East, rejected Lingala and criticized the language — critiquing Mobutu’s authoritarian rule in the process — other Zairians, particularly people in the Kikongo and Ciluba national language zones adapted to Mobutu’s new linguistic dispensation by learning to speak and understand Lingala, improving their relationship with the state and facilitating life under Mobutu’s rule.
by Joshua Maina Macharia, Edward Kembo-Sure, Pamela Anyango Oloo & Erick Omondi Odero
This article investigates through optimality theory how English loanwords are modified through the epenthesis process in accordance with the phonotactic requirements of Kinshasa Lingala. It therefore examines the restructuring of English loanwords which have consonant clusters and codas in their syllables by inserting vowels between consonants in the clusters and at the end of closed syllables to make them conform to the phonotactic constraints of Kinshasa Lingala. The study employed a qualitative research approach in which the data were collected through document analysis, and verified using structured interviews with two native speakers of Kinshasa Lingala. The findings demonstrate that loanword rephonologisation in Kinshasa Lingala is mainly governed by the syllable structure constraints found in optimality theory. In addition, the epenthetic vowels used to break up consonant clusters are determined by the place of articulation features of either the first consonant or the vowel in the following syllable, while the coda is resolved by inserting a vowel that shares the place of articulation features with the preceding consonant. The study concludes that the goal of the vowel epenthesis process is to preserve the canonical CV syllable structure by breaking consonant clusters and opening up closed syllables in loanwords in accordance with the phonotactic constraints of the recipient language.
2024
Mosali or Mowumbu: An Examination of the Translation of the Greek Word ΔΟΎΛΟΣ in Lingala Based on Luke 17:7-10by Pauline Omboko Shongo, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Confusion arises when a word such as δοῦλος is translated as both “mosali” or “servant”
and “mowumbu” or “enslaved person” in the Bible. Is δοῦλος supposed to be translated as “enslaved person” or “servant”? In this paper, first I look at the meaning of the word δοῦλος in Greco-Roman society and
the early church. I hope to understand why the Bible will have the enslaved person’s service as an example of service to God. Second, I look at the translation of the word δοῦλος in Lingala. This means I will need to pay attention to the who, when, where, and why of the translation. Lastly, I examine how this word applies to today's society. I would like to see if the choice of mosali over mowumbu in this passage is life-giving or perpetuating labor exploitation in the church and in broader society.
par Henri Muhiya Musabate, Université d'Angers
La crise écologique appelle à un changement d’attitudes et d’habitudes face à l’utilisation des ressources naturelles. La solution à la crise passe nécessairement par le changement d’attitudes et d’habitudes face à l’utilisation des ressources naturelles. Certaines ressources doivent être conservées : forêts, tourbières, biodiversité, ressources en eau. D’autres devraient être exploitées pour répondre aux besoins en énergies afin de remplacer les hydrocarbures, principales responsables des émissions des gaz à effets de serre : les minerais essentiels à la transition énergétique. La République Démocratique du Congo est un des pays visé pour ses 60% des forêts tropicales du Bassin du Congo, 2e poumon de la planète après l’Amazonie, ses tourbières, sa riche biodiversité et ses importants gisements de minerais : près de 60 % des réserves mondiale du cobalt, une réserve similaire en lithium, d’importants gisements de cuivre, etc. La contribution de ce pays devrait reposer sur des valeurs éthiques soutenues par des connaissances scientifiques, des savoirs traditionnels et spirituels. La littérature en constitue un des supports de transmission. La présente thèse examine le patrimoine littéraire oral de ce pays pour voir s’il prend en compte les préoccupations environnementales. L’analyse des 190 textes (45 contes, 40 chansons et 105 proverbes en trois langues, kihemba, kiswahili et lingala) a permis d’identifier 31 thématiques d’environnement et ressources naturelles reflétant le contexte du pays. On constate que la littérature orale de la RDC porte les questions écologiques. Elle exalte la beauté de la nature, éduque sur l’environnement, suscite l’engagement, dénonce la mauvaise gestion des ressources perpétuant pauvreté et alimentant les conflits.
par Laëtitia Giorgis, Hind Chalane, Ravaka Ranivoarianja, Hortense Bulungu, Institut Français de Kinshasa
La République Démocratique du Congo compte plus de 400 langues. L'apprentissage de la lecture et de l'écriture se fait dans un premier temps dans l'une des 4 langues nationales (lingala, tshiluba, kikongo ou swahili) selon la zone géographique de scolarisation et la langue officielle est le français. Comment parvenir à mieux alphabétiser cette population multi/plurilingue ? Quels sont les défis et stratégies d’alphabétisation en contexte plurilingue ?
by Igor Mel’čuk, Université de Montréal
The paper considers a relatively rare verbal syntactic construction found in East Sakhalin Ainu and in Lingala: an active form of a transitive verb governs simultaneously a direct object and an agentive complement, has no overt syntactic subject and is in the 3rd person plural. In order to characterize this verb form, three sets of formal linguistic notions are introduced and described: voice (with a calculus of logically possible voice grammemes), impersonal construction, and zero lexeme; many illustrations come from Lingala and Kinyarwanda, as well as several other languages. The verb forms under analysis are shown to be the partial demotional passive.
by André Motingea Mangulu, Université Pédagogique Nationale, Kinshasa
Ntina ya mwa nkoma oyo ezali koluka kosɔsɔla boniboni bilɛngɛ ya Kisasa bakolula mingi kosalela likelelo oyo etongami na libandi ya mokonza, litina ya likelelo, mpe esukya -á; mpɔ na kolobela makambo euti koleka. Nsima ya botali lolenge likelelo ya motindo wana ezali kosalelama na mɔkɔ minɔkɔ ya mboka, totali nanu mpe ndenge elimbolami na mikanda mpo ya Lingala ya bato nyɔsɔ, yambo ya kotala lolenge bilɛngɛ ya Kisasa bakosalela yango. Na nsuka toluki koyeba soki mabongongoli-bongoli misusu ya mibeko ya lokota ezali. Tobosani tɛ ete momɛsɛno yango ekoki mpe kowuta na mongai ya minɔkɔ ya mboka oyo baboti bazalaki koloba. Tokoki koloba ete kolula kosalela esukya -á ewuti na esukya -a ya passé simple ya lifalase; se ndenge emɔnisama mpɔ ya esukya -é tozali na yango na makelelo-nkombo/manɔkɔ mpe eleko ewuti koleka ete ewuta na makelelo-nkombo ya lifalase.
The aim of this paper is to try to understand why young people in Kinshasa prefer the construction with a subject marker, the verbal base, and the suffix -á (SM-VB-á) to the recent past. After looking at the narrative tense in some local languages, we first look at how this SM-VB-á tense is described for Standard Lingala, before examining its use in the Lingala youth language of Kinshasa. Finally, we investigate whether there are any manipulations at the morphosyntactic level. Without excluding the possibility of a natural shift or substrate interference, it can be postulated that a probable source of this is the French simple past with the suffix -a. The same scenario has been demonstrated with -é in the infinitive and in the perfect/recent tense with all verbs borrowed from French.
by Michael Meeuwis, University of Ghent, Belgium
S’inscrivant dans le champ de la linguistique coloniale et missionnaire, cet article explore les campagnes d’intervention linguistique des missionnaires protestants travaillant au Congo belge, en particulier leur approche des langues bangala et lingala entre 1900 et 1935. Cette période commence par un plan d’action visant à transformer le bangala en le « rachetant » de ses caractéristiques de langue pidgin, en une « langue tueuse », dans le but de supplanter toutes les langues locales utilisées dans le travail missionnaire protestant. Elle s’achève avec l’établissement d’un Comité lingala, ses tentatives de création d’une « Union lingala » et la première publication sur le lingala par le missionnaire baptiste Malcolm Guthrie en 1935, dont les travaux sur le lingala allaient changer la politique des Protestants à l’égard de cette langue de manière définitive. La période située entre ces deux moments est marquée par des résistances au sein des milieux protestants contre le plan d’action, des tentatives de contrecarrer ces résistances et, surtout, un large éventail de débats et de discussions, manifestant tous des idéologies linguistiques notables.
by Nico Nassenstein
This paper examines language change in two Lingala youth languages from the DR Congo, Lingala ya Bayankee (sometimes referred to as Yanké) and Langila, focusing on processes of grammaticalization and replication. Speakers of Lingala ya Bayankee use a grammaticalized prefix ké- for the near/immediate future tense, derived from the verb kokende ‘to go’ and from a manipulated form of the same verb, namely the prefix dyé- from kodyé (with the same meaning). The emergence and development of this tense marker is traced and compared with the strategies used by Langila speakers. Moreover, the microvariationist lens through which changes in the tense-aspect system of Lingala’s youth registers are examined in this paper looks at different formation patterns of progressive aspect, with two dominant construction types in Lingala ya Bayankee; these are also compared to the strategies used by Langila speakers. While linguistic manipulations have long been the focus of sociolinguistic approaches to the study of adolescent language use, fine-grained differences in tense and aspect marking have received little attention. Here, this paper aims to take a first step, based on rich empirical data collected during various research stays in the urban environment of Kinshasa.
par Anicet Bassilua, Université de Liège
À quelle logique discursive l’auteur de Mathématiques congolaises recourt-il pour représenter l’autochtonie ? C’est à cette question que tente de répondre cet article. Mathématiques congolaises, roman-fiction de l’écrivain congolais In Koli Jean Bofane écrit en français, exploite des expressions du lingala, langue de l’Afrique centrale. Cette écriture dénote une stratégie énonciative qui met en avant le thème de la décolonisation dans la littérature francophone africaine. À partir des notions de texte et de discours en linguistique et en sémiotique, nous construisons la structure de signification à travers laquelle Jean Bofane semble représenter les traits de son terroir en recourant à ces figures linguistiques.
2022
by Janika Kunzmann, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz
In youth language practice, diverse creative linguistic strategies are applied to derive a language variant distinct from what is perceived as the norm. Since linguistic innovation is of primary interest for the study of “deviant” speech varieties, this paper discusses whether the structural similarities and differences observed between African youth languages can be addressed by determining the linguistic strategies employed by speakers in order to innovate. Defining innovation as a new combination of existing material, I identify two higher-level types of practices that I propose lead to linguistic innovation:
(i) combining two or more resources from different languages in the speaker’s linguistic repertoire, and
(ii) using a linguistic strategy with a part of the speaker’s linguistic repertoire.
To illustrate these two types, reference is made to the Lingala-based youth language practices Yanké and Langila. Although both types of strategy may occur simultaneously, I argue that Yanké speakers rely more on combining different languages from their repertoire, whereas Langila speakers more heavily rely on applying creative language games to their repertoire. The question is raised as to whether the structural differences between the two youth language practices can be accounted for by determining the type of innovation practices employed by the speakers.
2021
2020
2019
Dieu ne comprend pas le lingala? Migrations religieuses et frontières raciales.
par Sarah Demart, Université de Liège
De grandes tendances se dégagent au point de constituer un champ d’études à part entière, défini par l’origine nationale des acteurs (Africains subsahariens) et par leurs pratiques religieuses (référant à un christianisme évangélique, charismatique et/ou pentecôtiste). Cependant, à y regarder de plus près, il semble que ces débats prennent une tournure particulière dans le contexte français, au regard de la permanence de catégories qui tendent à racialiser, pour ne pas dire pathologiser, l’attachement aux origines, en défendant l’hypothèse d’une racialisation des identités religieuses. Une thèse qui, on le verra, procède d’une ethnicisation des dynamiques socio-religieuses, à la faveur d’une décontextualisation de l’avènement de ces formes religieuses d’une part et de l’évacuation de toute réflexivité postcoloniale relative à la racialisation de la société globale, d’autre part.
The linguistic features of Bangala before Lingala : The pidginization of Bobangi in the 1880s and 1890s
by Michael Meeuwis, Ghent University
Described are the lexical and grammatical features of the pidgin Bangala, spoken between roughly 1880 and 1900. This formed the basis of what after 1900 became Lingala. Pre-1900 Bangala arose out of the pidginization of Bobangi in the context of the arrival of the first European conquerors and their African troops. First is discussed the sociohistorical evidence given by contemporaneous sourcesfor the emergence of Bangala out of Bobangi and its development then into Lingala. The bulk of the article then describes the linguistic features of the pidgin. This is done on the basis of contemporaneous sources, documenting the language as it was spoken in its own time, and on the basis of strict data selection criteria. The study of the colonial context and of the linguistics of pre-1900 Bangala is of major importance for our understanding of present-day Lingala and northeastern Bangala.
2018
Pronunciación de lenguas Africanas (5): Lingala y Wolofpar C. A. Caranci
Esta nota es la quinta entrega de la serie cuyo título queda indicado arriba (que ha ido apareciendo en los números 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 y 16-17 de Estudios Africanos). Como se dijo en trabajos anteriores, se pretende indicar al lector hispanohablante no lingüista cómo pronunciar de forma aproximada los sonidos de algunas lenguas africanas. En esta ocasión nos referiremos al lingala y al wolof
2017*, in order to build a bilingual student’s dictionary through a set of domain-structured booklets.
2015
The Making of Lingala Corpus: An Under-resourced Language and the Internet.
by Bienvenu Sene-Mongaba, Université Pédagogique Nationale, Kinshasa
This paper has attempted to elucidate the issues that are involved with building a corpus for an under-resourced language where access to internet texts is
difficult. To extract Lingala text from a mass of French text, it has been necessary to go through a process of selection by seed words list. The raw corpus is composed of 6,080,426 tokens. I have intervened on the data from internet sources by standardizing the spelling. This standardized corpus is stored separately from the raw corpus.
'Official Language': the Case of Lingala
by William J. Samarin, University of Toronto, Canada
The fact that Lingala arose in a colonial context is of capital importance, and no full account of its history is adequate unless it looks at all the facets of colonization. Such a history will describe what whites, along with their African auxiliaries, were doing and also how the indigenous peoples responded to the presence and activities of these foreigners. This complex history is adumbrated in the present study by the examination of Protestant mission work.
2014
A grammatical study of the youth language Yanké (Studies in African Linguistics 90).
by Nico Nassenstein
na Bienvenu Sene Mongaba, Boboongó ya Gent
Na Bikólo ebelé ya Afrika, míngimíngi pó na matéya ya nzebi, na bitéyelo ya katikáti pé ya likoló, batángisaka na minoko óyo bakolonizéláká bangó na yangó. Likambo ya monoko ya kotángisela, ezalí likambo óyo bato bazalí kondongwanela na yangó makási, tíí na mói ya leló. Ekokí kozwelama na ndéngé ya idolojí. Bankóló monoko bakomilobela : "bakoyéba bísó na monoko na bísó, esengélí tóbatela yangó". Ekokí pé kozwelama na ndéngé ya etángiseli. Bankóló monoko bakotála : mikakatano níni, bayékoli bazalí kokútana na yangó tángo bazalí koyékola na monoko ya bapaya, monoko óyo bayébí té, tó pé, monoko óyo bayébí malámu té. Ézala na ndéngé ya idolojí, ézala na ndéngé ya etángiseli, na mói ya leló, mibéko ya kokoma minoko míngi ya Afrika nánu efándísámí té. Ndéngé mókó pé, bibéngeli ya misálá óyo ekopésa minoko yangó nzelá ya kosálelama lokóla minoko ya kotángisela, nánu ekelámí nyónso té. Na boye, ezalí na boséngá ya konguyisa minoko ya Afrika pó balakisi bákoka kotángisa na yangó, na ndéngé ya malongá.
Boyékoli óyo ezalí kolandela makambo mínei : 1) kolakisa ezalelo na ndéngé ya sosiolengwisitíki (bomoi ya monoko na mbóka) ya bitéyelo ya Kinshasa. 2) kolakisa ndéngé níni balobi-Lingála batongaka masakoli ya polélé pé bibéngeli etongámá tángo balobaka. 3) kobimisa polélé boyókani káti na etongameli pé tína-maloba. Yangó ezalí pó na koyéba ndéngé ya kobótamisa bibéngeli ya nzebi pé mayéboli ya bobéndisi na Lingála. 4) kokundola mayéle eléndá pó na koyébanisa bibéngeli óyo ekelámí.
Le lingála dans l’enseignement des sciences dans les écoles de Kinshasa.
par Bienvenu Sene Mongaba, Université de Gand
Dans plusieurs pays africains, les langues héritées de la colonisation continuent à être utilisées comme langues d’enseignement dans le système scolaire, en particulier à l’école secondaire et à l’université et surtout pour les matières scientifiques. Il s’avère qu’à l’heure actuelle plusieurs langues africaines ne sont pas dotées d’une codification et d’une terminologie spécialisée leur per-
mettant d’assumer le rôle de langue d’enseignement. Il se pose donc la nécessité d’un renforcement des capacités de ces langues, afin de permettre aux enseignants de les utiliser de manière efficiente comme langues d’enseignement. Tel est le cadre dans lequel j’ai entrepris cette thèse de doctorat, qui a consisté en la mise sur pied d’une méthodologie de production et/ou de traduction de textes relatifs aux savoirs scientifiques, spécialement ceux de la chimie. Cette thèse aborde non seulement la question de la création terminologique mais aussi celle de l’insertion de cette terminologie dans la syntaxe et la sémantique du lingála dans une optique didactique, c’est-à-dire, dans la manière de rédiger, en lingála, des manuels et des exposés scolaires et académiques.
Le dictionnaire de chimie en lingála pour les élèves de Kinshasa
par Bienvenu Sene Mongaba, Université de Gand
L'approche traditionnel de lexicographe n'est pas adaptée pour des langues
dont les documents correspondant à la spécialité sont rares ou absents, tel que le lingála dans le domaine de la chimie. Donc s'ajoutent des travaux de création terminologique, afin de permettre à ces dictionnaires de satisfaire les attentes des utilisateurs. Pour cela, le lexicographe adopte l'une des deux méthodologies suivantes: traduction ou définir des concepts et à produire les termes les
désignant directement dans la langue source, sans pour autant toujours disposer d'un corpus correspondant dans cette langue. Cet article décrit la démarche que nous avons suivie pour la réalisation d'un dictionnaire de chimie bilingue lingála–français à l'intention des enseignants et des élèves de la troisième année secondaire des écoles de Kinshasa.
by Nico Nassenstein, Universität Mainz
The present article analyzes concepts of directionality in Kinshasa-Lingala, a variety of Lingala. It provides a classification of motion, direction and manner constructions in Lingala and explores the use of the locative element na (which is often called a preposition in most grammars) in motion constructions, the use of (intrinsic) directional adverbial particles, a short analysis of right-left constructions in Lingala, as well as verbal strategies of expressing directionality with a focus on applicative constructions (both expressing directed motion and cognitive direction). A short insight into Lingala speakers’ mental maps, based on an orographic concept (thus based on real altitude), and some examples of directional applicative use in language contact situations will be presented before a general conclusion summarizes the principal ideas.
2013
Lingála na Matéya ya nzebi na bitéyelo ya Kinshasa.na Bienvenu Sene Mongaba, Boboongó ya Gent
Na Bikólo ebelé ya Afrika, míngimíngi pó na matéya ya nzebi, na bitéyelo ya katikáti pé ya likoló, batángisaka na minoko óyo bakolonizéláká bangó na yangó. Likambo ya monoko ya kotángisela, ezalí likambo óyo bato bazalí kondongwanela na yangó makási, tíí na mói ya leló. Ekokí kozwelama na ndéngé ya idolojí. Bankóló monoko bakomilobela : "bakoyéba bísó na monoko na bísó, esengélí tóbatela yangó". Ekokí pé kozwelama na ndéngé ya etángiseli. Bankóló monoko bakotála : mikakatano níni, bayékoli bazalí kokútana na yangó tángo bazalí koyékola na monoko ya bapaya, monoko óyo bayébí té, tó pé, monoko óyo bayébí malámu té. Ézala na ndéngé ya idolojí, ézala na ndéngé ya etángiseli, na mói ya leló, mibéko ya kokoma minoko míngi ya Afrika nánu efándísámí té. Ndéngé mókó pé, bibéngeli ya misálá óyo ekopésa minoko yangó nzelá ya kosálelama lokóla minoko ya kotángisela, nánu ekelámí nyónso té. Na boye, ezalí na boséngá ya konguyisa minoko ya Afrika pó balakisi bákoka kotángisa na yangó, na ndéngé ya malongá.
Boyékoli óyo ezalí kolandela makambo mínei : 1) kolakisa ezalelo na ndéngé ya sosiolengwisitíki (bomoi ya monoko na mbóka) ya bitéyelo ya Kinshasa. 2) kolakisa ndéngé níni balobi-Lingála batongaka masakoli ya polélé pé bibéngeli etongámá tángo balobaka. 3) kobimisa polélé boyókani káti na etongameli pé tína-maloba. Yangó ezalí pó na koyéba ndéngé ya kobótamisa bibéngeli ya nzebi pé mayéboli ya bobéndisi na Lingála. 4) kokundola mayéle eléndá pó na koyébanisa bibéngeli óyo ekelámí.
Le lingála dans l’enseignement des sciences dans les écoles de Kinshasa.
par Bienvenu Sene Mongaba, Université de Gand
Dans plusieurs pays africains, les langues héritées de la colonisation continuent à être utilisées comme langues d’enseignement dans le système scolaire, en particulier à l’école secondaire et à l’université et surtout pour les matières scientifiques. Il s’avère qu’à l’heure actuelle plusieurs langues africaines ne sont pas dotées d’une codification et d’une terminologie spécialisée leur per-
mettant d’assumer le rôle de langue d’enseignement. Il se pose donc la nécessité d’un renforcement des capacités de ces langues, afin de permettre aux enseignants de les utiliser de manière efficiente comme langues d’enseignement. Tel est le cadre dans lequel j’ai entrepris cette thèse de doctorat, qui a consisté en la mise sur pied d’une méthodologie de production et/ou de traduction de textes relatifs aux savoirs scientifiques, spécialement ceux de la chimie. Cette thèse aborde non seulement la question de la création terminologique mais aussi celle de l’insertion de cette terminologie dans la syntaxe et la sémantique du lingála dans une optique didactique, c’est-à-dire, dans la manière de rédiger, en lingála, des manuels et des exposés scolaires et académiques.
Le dictionnaire de chimie en lingála pour les élèves de Kinshasa
par Bienvenu Sene Mongaba, Université de Gand
L'approche traditionnel de lexicographe n'est pas adaptée pour des langues
dont les documents correspondant à la spécialité sont rares ou absents, tel que le lingála dans le domaine de la chimie. Donc s'ajoutent des travaux de création terminologique, afin de permettre à ces dictionnaires de satisfaire les attentes des utilisateurs. Pour cela, le lexicographe adopte l'une des deux méthodologies suivantes: traduction ou définir des concepts et à produire les termes les
désignant directement dans la langue source, sans pour autant toujours disposer d'un corpus correspondant dans cette langue. Cet article décrit la démarche que nous avons suivie pour la réalisation d'un dictionnaire de chimie bilingue lingála–français à l'intention des enseignants et des élèves de la troisième année secondaire des écoles de Kinshasa.
2012
Directionality in Lingala.by Nico Nassenstein, Universität Mainz
The present article analyzes concepts of directionality in Kinshasa-Lingala, a variety of Lingala. It provides a classification of motion, direction and manner constructions in Lingala and explores the use of the locative element na (which is often called a preposition in most grammars) in motion constructions, the use of (intrinsic) directional adverbial particles, a short analysis of right-left constructions in Lingala, as well as verbal strategies of expressing directionality with a focus on applicative constructions (both expressing directed motion and cognitive direction). A short insight into Lingala speakers’ mental maps, based on an orographic concept (thus based on real altitude), and some examples of directional applicative use in language contact situations will be presented before a general conclusion summarizes the principal ideas.
The Use of Lingála in the Teaching of Chemistry in DR Congo: A Socio-terminological Approach
by Bienvenu Sene Mongaba, Universiteit Gent
The research focuses on the use of Lingála as a vehicular language for the teaching of chemistry in province of Kinshasa. Kinshasa students speak Lingála in their daily life, but in the classroom French is the language of instruction. The lack of adequate terminology reportedly makes it difficult for teachers and researchers to work in their mother tongues. In our opinion, there are at least two solutions to this problem. The first is the much explored path of reinforcing the command of French, English or Portuguese by African students. The second is the less explored path of testing whether it would be possible and beneficial to create or reinforce scientific terminology in African major national languages. In this paper we strive to explore the second path.
A Polylectal Grammar of Lingála and Its Theoretical Implications
by Eyamba G. Bokamba, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This paper aims to address three primary objectives: (1) The characterization, from a comparative perspective, of the differences and similarities among three of the language’s varieties/dialects: Mankanza Lingála (ML) or Literary Lingála (LL), Spoken Lingála (SL), and Kinshasa Lingála (KL); (2) the provision of possible explanations to account for the sources or causes of the grammatical variations observed in the three varieties; and (3) a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of producing polylectal grammars for languages such as this one. The paper shows with respect to the first two objectives that all three dialects share, as would be
expected, many common core grammatical characteristics; and that the most important and evident difference between ML and any of the other two dialects involves the scope of the operation of the grammatical agreement system, the core dimension of Bantu languages grammar. The second major difference between ML and KL concerns the occurrence of double noun class prefixes in the pluralization of nouns in the latter, and the paradox that this phenomenon exemplifies in the grammatical agreement system. A few other significant differences involving tense-aspects usage and phonological rules are also discussed in response to the first goal. An attempt is made to offer a set of explications of these differences on the basis of the language’s contact and planning histories.
Involvement in Language: The Role of the Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae in the History of Lingala
Directives in Lingala: Participation and Subjectivity
Aux sources du lingála: Cas du mbenga de Mankanza – Nouvel Anvers.
2009
Involvement in Language: The Role of the Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae in the History of Lingala
by Michael Meeuwis, University of Gent, Belgium
2008
Directives in Lingala: Participation and Subjectivity
by Annette Renée Harrison, University of California, Santa Barbara, California
The analysis focuses on three directive forms: rhetorical questions, coordinating commands and ritual language used in prayer. For each typeof directive it discuss the relationship between the form and its interactional context and provide examples that illustrate its structural features and how participants recognize them as directives, as well as discussing the source of their directive force. The use of these directives requires experience in the church context, knowledge of the interactional practices of the group and accompanying linguistic skills, which are unequally distributed among the group’s members and produce a social organization dominated by the most knowledgeable and experienced members.
Aux sources du lingála: Cas du mbenga de Mankanza – Nouvel Anvers.
by André Motingea Mangulu, André & Gaston Bonzoi Mwamakasa.
This study deals with the language of the Mbenga, a small tribe dwelling in the hinterland of
the former State Station of New Antwerpen (Mankanza). The aim is to revisit the quest of the
origin of Lingala by taking as a starting point one of the languages of the supposed area of
its emergence. This study also provides a good quantity of materials on Mbenga itself, which
today may be consedered as an endangered language or almost an extinct language. The
conclusion is that the past of Lingala is still a matter of future research.
2006
Les Usages linguistiques à Brazzaville : la place du Français.
par Omer Massoumou, Université Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville
Brazzaville est de considérer comme un espace plurilingue où les gens parlent ou utilisent quotidiennement plusieurs langues. Les usages des langues sont abordés ici dans une perspective de pratique d’un code linguistique bien défini. Il est question de déterminer le nombre de langues qu’un locuteur utilise régulièrement pour communiquer avec autrui. Les problèmes d’alternance codique, des contacts de langues ne seront donc pas traités dans ces lignes. Par ailleurs c’est plutôt l’idée de production langagière qui est à retenir que
celle de consommation.
The Lingála-Kiswahili border in north-eastern Congo Its origins in Belgian colonial state formation of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
by Michael Meeuwis, Ghent University.
The aim should be to reconstruct the backgrounds against which the data that are now used in Africana were originally collected, interpreted and transmitted. There are different benefits to be drawn from this. First of all, every discipline has to be concerned with identifying what is missing in its raw data. Second, an examination of linguistic and ethnological research practices in colonial contexts can shed light on the roles these practices played. Third, a historiography of Africana is the best way towards an understanding of the different ‘statuses’ of our primary sources. Comparative linguists poorly informed on the socio-historical backgrounds of their monographic sources run the risk of integrating into the comparison publications that were conceived with widely diverging aims, ranging from the highest degrees of description to the clearest types of intervention and planning, with many types in between. Fourth, a historiography of our sources proves its usefulness when considering the reality of feedback effects.
Lingála courant: Grammaire pédagogique de référence.
André Motingea Mangulu, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo
2005
Aspects of Multilingualism in the Lingala Zone of Congo.
by Myles Leitch, SIL
To approach the analysis of multilingualism, it is necessary to distinguish the functional, symbolic, institutional, policy-related (political), and geographical aspects of each language in a multilingual system. It is then possible to see how the languages function systematically, with respect to each other in a national or regional context. Each of the languages involved in the Congo system is analyzed according to this template. Benefits of this approach, implications
for the work of bilingual evaluation, and general language program planning are discussed.
2003
Les langues africaines sur la Toile : Étude des cas haoussa, somali, lingala et isixhosa.
par Anneleen Van der Veken, Université libre de Bruxelles
et Gilles-Maurice de Schryver, Université de Gand
Les langues africaines sont présentes sur la Toile. Cette présence facilite la création de corpus linguistiques. Pour illustrer notre propos et notre méthodologie, nous nous concentrons sur quelques langues des quatre coins de l’Afrique. La taille et la composition des corpus respectifs donnent une idée de ce qui est disponible sur la Toile pour ces langues et permettent aussi de comparer ces langues entre elles. Afin d’illustrer le potentiel de ces corpus
linguistiques nous fabriquerons, à titre d’exemple, des logiciels de grande utilité: à savoir, des correcteurs d’orthographe pour chacune de ces langues africaines.
1997
Des lexiques en langues africaines (sängö, wolof, lingála) pour l'utilisateur de l'ordinateur.
par Marcel Diki-Kidiri, CNRS, Paris, Chérif Mbodj, Université Dakar et Atibakwa Baboya Edema, CELTA, Kinshasa
Les auteurs s'intéressent à l'expression d'un même savoir dans des langues et des cultures differentes, en analysant minutieuseuement les processus de conceptionalisation mis en oeuvre dans la langue de chaque culture. Cela permet d'aborder des questions techniques relatives à la terminographie en langues africaines; les exigences de l'utilisateur par rapport à la néologie et à la langue de spécialité; la question du support: lexique hypermédia versus lexique sur papier.
1991
The Origins of Lingala and Kituba.
by William J. Samarin, in: Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 12.47–77.
Considered here is the relationship between the nature of more-or-less pidginized Kituba and Lingala and their function as lingua francos in equatorial central Africa. It is argued that although they may have been preceded by widely known ethnic languages, it seems more probable that their pidginization and creation as lingua francos took place in the last two decades of the nineteenth century.
1990
Langage, normes et répertoire en milieu urbain africain: L’indoubill.
N’sial Bal-Nsien Sesep, Université Laval
1986
Protestant Missions and the History of Lingala.
by William J. Samarin, University of Toronto, Canada
Language served the missionaries as a means to penetrate the heart of Africa. The relationship between language use and territorial occupation is in fact not accidental. This paper reveals how they are related in mission policy - and how differences trough time were reflected in changing linguistic policies. Can be read online with a free account. No download.
1970
Esquisse grammaticale de lingala
Simon P. Bwantsa-Kafungu, Université Lovanium
1959
Bantu Philosophy.
by Placide Tempels
Colin King has, in this translation of Father Tempels' study of Bantu philosophy,
conferred a great benefit on those students of African life and thought who use the English language for reading. Ever since I saw the French edition published by Lovania in 1945, I have recommended the study to all who could use it in French. I have memories, too, of more than one African or Sudanese or Chinese student, who did not read French, sitting beside an English fellow student in the little seminar room under the roof, while they worked together on the ideas put forward by Father Tempels with such intimate knowledge and eloquence.
Every year, in the seminar to which Mr. King refers, someone raises a question touching on the philosophic thought of African peoples. When they are referred to Father Tempels' study, there has often been dismay because it has only been available in French. Mr. King himself, as he says in his Translator's Note, worked on an English translation for his own continuous use and very generously made it available for use by others in the Department in which he
holds at present a post as lecturer. It was clear, however, that for the English speaking world there was a great need to have access to this study, and all of us who have made use of it in the past will welcome the fact that an English edition is now available.
1946
Bantoe Filosofie.
van Placide Tempels
1945
La Philosophie Bantu (traduit par A. Rubbens).
La Philosophie Bantu (traduit par E. Possoz, inédit).
par Placide Tempels
par Marcel Diki-Kidiri, CNRS, Paris, Chérif Mbodj, Université Dakar et Atibakwa Baboya Edema, CELTA, Kinshasa
Les auteurs s'intéressent à l'expression d'un même savoir dans des langues et des cultures differentes, en analysant minutieuseuement les processus de conceptionalisation mis en oeuvre dans la langue de chaque culture. Cela permet d'aborder des questions techniques relatives à la terminographie en langues africaines; les exigences de l'utilisateur par rapport à la néologie et à la langue de spécialité; la question du support: lexique hypermédia versus lexique sur papier.
by William J. Samarin, University of Toronto, Canada
Language served the missionaries as a means to penetrate the heart of Africa. The relationship between language use and territorial occupation is in fact not accidental. This paper reveals how they are related in mission policy - and how differences trough time were reflected in changing linguistic policies. Can be read online with a free account. No download.
1899
Grammar and dictionary of the Bobangi language as spoken over a part of the Upper Congo.John Whitehead, Harvard University
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