Kisongye
/kiˈsɔŋɡeɪ/noun
A Bantu language spoken primarily by the Songye people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Did you know?The prefix ki- appears in many Bantu language names, including Kiswahili, functioning broadly as a marker meaning “language of” or “the language associated with.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ki-
“Noun-class prefix associated with languages, customs, or things connected to a group”
Early Bantu
Bantu
*ba-songye
“A form reconstructed for the people-name Songye, with ba- marking a plural human group”
Precolonial Central Africa
Bantu languages
Songye
“Name of a Central African ethnolinguistic community in the region of present-day southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo”
19th–20th Century
Luba-area Bantu
Kisongye
“The language associated with or spoken by the Songye”
Modern English
English
Kisongye
“The Songye language”