Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Kiga language

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Native to
  
Uganda, Rwanda

Standard forms
  
Kitara

Ethnicity
  
Kiga, Twa

ISO 639-3
  
cgg

Native speakers
  
1.6 million (2002 census)

Language family
  
Niger–CongoAtlantic–CongoBenue–CongoBantoidBantuNortheast BantuGreat Lakes BantuNyoro–GandaKiga

Kiga (also called Rukiga, Ruchiga, or Chiga) is the native language of the Kiga people (Bakiga). Kiga is a very similar language to the Nkore language. It was first written in the second half of the 19th century.

Kiga is so similar to Nkore (84%–94% lexical similarity) that some argue they are dialects of the same language, called Nkore-Kiga by Charles Taylor.

In common with other Bantu languages, Kiga has a noun class system in which prefixes on nouns mark membership of one of the noun genders. Pronouns, adjectives, and verbs reflect the noun gender of the nominal they refer to. Some examples of noun classes:

  • mu – person (singular), e.g. omukiga = inhabitant of Kigezi land
  • ru – language, e.g. Rukiga = language of the Kiga
  • ba – people, e.g. Bakiga = The Kiga people
  • ki – customs or traditions, e.g. kikiga, (sometimes spelled Kichiga), describes religious tradition common to the Kiga people. Sometimes the people are called 'Chiga' by people misunderstanding the linguistic rules in relation to the prefixes.

    • The sound [l] is not distinctive in Rukiga. The letter "r" is used instead.

    References

    Kiga language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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