Kikongo
/kiˈkɔŋ.ɡoʊ/noun
A Bantu language spoken mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, and Angola.
Did you know?Kikongo is named with the Bantu noun-class prefix ki-, a grammatical marker that often denotes languages, tools, or ways of speaking across Bantu languages.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Proto-Bantu
PB
*kɔ̀ŋgɔ̀
“Likely the ethnonym or regional name associated with the Kongo people/area (reconstructed form is uncertain).”
Proto-Bantu
PB
ki- + *-kongo
“Language-name formation using the ki- noun-class prefix attached to the Kongo ethnonym.”
16th Century
Portuguese
Congo / Kongo
“European renderings of the name of the Kongo kingdom and its people.”
19th Century
English
Kikongo
“The Bantu language of the Kongo people, especially as described in linguistic and missionary literature.”
Modern English
English
Kikongo
“A major Bantu language of Central Africa.”
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