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Lexvo - ISO 639-3 language codes

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Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

konKongo  

Type

  • Language

Definition

  • The Kongo language, or Kikongo, is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola. It is a tonal language and formed the base for Kituba, a Bantu creole and lingua franca throughout much of west central Africa. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from the region and sold as slaves in the Americas. For this reason, while Kongo still is spoken in the above-mentioned countries, creolized forms of the language are found in ritual speech of African-derived religions in Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and especially in Haiti. It is also one of the sources of the Gullah people's language and the Palenquero creole in Colombia. The vast majority of present-day speakers live in Africa. There are roughly seven million native speakers of Kongo, with perhaps two million more who use it as a second language.

Entry terms

  • Kongo language

ISO 639-1 code

  • kg

ISO 639-2 Bibliographical code

  • kon

ISO 639-2 Terminological code

  • kon

ISO 639-3 code

  • kon

Notation

  • kon

In other languages

  • kongo

    French

  • Kikongo
  • Kikongo

    German

  • Kongolesisch
  • kongo

    Italian

  • Lingua kongo
  • conguês

    Portuguese

  • congolês
  • Kikongo
  • kongo

    Spanish

  • Kikongo

URI

http://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/kon

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