Chiluba
/tʃɪˈluːbə/noun
A name commonly used for Tshiluba, a Bantu language spoken mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and surrounding regions.
Did you know?The opening element, chi-, is a Bantu noun-class prefix used in several language names, reflecting a traditional link between speech, classification, and community.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ki-
“A noun-class prefix associated with things or systems belonging to a category; it developed into forms such as chi- and ki- in daughter languages.”
Early Bantu period
Bantu
*Luba
“An ethnonym referring to the Luba people; the deeper origin of the ethnonym itself is uncertain.”
Precolonial period
Luba languages
ciLuba
“A Bantu formation meaning approximately “the Luba language” or “speech of the Luba.””
19th–20th Century
French/English usage
Tshiluba / Chiluba
“Names used by European-language sources for the Luba language, especially the standardized Central Luba variety.”
Modern English
English
Chiluba
“An English rendering of the language name, also encountered in personal and place-related proper names.”
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