Banyamulenge
/ˌbɑːnjəmʊˈlɛŋɡeɪ/noun
An ethnonym for a primarily Tutsi-descended Kinyarwanda-speaking community from the highlands of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Did you know?Banyamulenge is generally analyzed as Kinyarwanda ba- “people of” plus Mulenge, a place-name associated with the community’s historic settlement in South Kivu.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ba-
“Plural human-person prefix, broadly meaning “people” or “those who are””
Early Bantu
Bantu
*ntu
“Person or human being; the root found in related terms such as muntu and ubuntu”
Precolonial period
Kinyarwanda
ba-
“Class 2 plural prefix meaning “people of” or “those belonging to””
19th–20th Century
Kinyarwanda
Mulenge
“A place-name referring to the Mulenge area or highlands in what is now South Kivu”
20th Century
Kinyarwanda
Banyamulenge
““People of Mulenge,” an ethnonym used for a Kinyarwanda-speaking community in eastern Congo”
Modern English
English
Banyamulenge
“The established English form of the community’s name, often discussed in relation to Congolese citizenship, ethnicity, and regional conflict”