Kirundi

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A Bantu language spoken primarily in Burundi, used as a means of communication and cultural expression within the region ; the people who speak this language as their native tongue ; related to the customs and traditions of the native speakers in the Great Lakes area of East Africa
2. The native language of Burundi belonging to the Bantu family, serving as both an everyday spoken language and a marker of ethnic identity ; referring to the ethnic group associated with this language ; encompassing aspects of their oral literature and cultural heritage
3. A widely used tongue in Burundi that belongs to the larger Bantu linguistic group, facilitating daily communication and social cohesion ; designating the population that uses this language natively ; including the collective cultural practices and social norms of its speakers

Etymology: Kirundi is the name of the Bantu language spoken by most people in Burundi, a small country in East Africa, and the name itself comes from Swahili. The Swahili term "Kirundi" was borrowed into English and refers to the language as well as the people who speak it natively. The language's own name is built on the same stem as the country's: the prefix "ki-" marks a language in many Bantu tongues, and "Rundi" names the people and region, so the word literally means something like "the language of the Rundi." The noun is used both for the tongue and for the community of its native speakers, which is why it can also cover the customs and social norms shared among them. The word's history in English is short and plain, and its core structure is a Bantu prefix attached to an ethnic name rather than a loanword from a European language.

Synonyms: Rundi