Umbundu
/ũˈbũndu/noun
Umbundu is a Bantu language spoken chiefly by the Ovimbundu people of central and southern Angola.
Did you know?Umbundu belongs to the Bantu language family, whose wide distribution across Africa reflects centuries of migration and cultural exchange rather than a single ancient empire.
Etymological Timeline
Early Bantu period
Proto-Bantu
*bundu
“A reconstructed form associated by scholars with the name-group behind Mbundu and related ethnolinguistic terms; its precise original meaning is uncertain.”
Precolonial period
Bantu languages
mbundu
“An ethnolinguistic name used in central-western Angola, connected with the Mbundu and Ovimbundu peoples.”
16th–17th Century
Portuguese records
Umbundu
“A recorded name for the language spoken by communities later commonly identified as Ovimbundu.”
19th Century
Portuguese and English
Umbundu
“The established name used in linguistic and colonial descriptions of the language of central Angola.”
Modern English
English
Umbundu
“The recognized name of a Bantu language of Angola, also called South Mbundu in some linguistic classifications.”