Mongo language

{{Short description|Bantu language of the Democratic Republic of Congo}} {{distinguish|Mongo language (Cameroon)|Mongol language (disambiguation){{!}}Mongol language|Daju Mongo language}} {{Infobox language | name = Mongo | altname = Nkundu | nativename = ''Lomongo'' | region = Democratic Republic of Congo | speakers = 400,000 | date = 1995 | ref = e18 | familycolor = Niger-Congo | fam2 = Atlantic–Congo | fam3 = Volta-Congo | fam4 = Benue–Congo | fam5 = Bantoid | fam6 = Southern Bantoid | fam7 = Bantu (Zone C) | fam8 = Bangi–Ntomba | fam9 = Mongo–Bolia | fam10 = Mongo–Nkunda (C.60) | iso2 = lol | iso3 = lol | lc1 = ymg | ld1 = Yamongeri | guthrie = C.61,611; C.36H | glotto = mong1338 | glottoname = Mongo | glotto2 = bafo1235 | glottoname2 = Bafoto | ethnicity = Mongo people }}

'''Mongo''', also called '''Nkundo''' or '''Mongo-Nkundu''' (''Lomongo, Lonkundu''), is a Bantu language spoken by several of the Mongo peoples in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mongo speakers reside in the north-west of the country over a large area inside the curve of the Congo River. Mongo is a tonal language.

== Dialects == There are several dialects. Maho (2009) lists one of these, Bafoto (Batswa de l'Equateur), C.611, as a separate language. The others are:<ref name="Guthrie"/>

* Kutu (Bakutu), including Longombe * Bokote, including Ngata * Booli * Bosaka * Konda (Ekonda), including Bosanga-Ekonda * Ekota * Emoma * Ikongo, including Lokalo-Lomela * Iyembe * Lionje, Nsongo, Ntomba * Yamongo * Mbole, including Nkengo, Yenge, Yongo, Bosanga-Mbole, Mangilongo, Lwankamba * Nkole * South Mongo, including Bolongo, Belo, Panga, Acitu * Yailima * Ngombe-Lomela, Longombe, ''Ngome à Múná''

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="2" | !Labial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Glottal |- align="center" ! colspan="2" |Nasal |m |n |ɲ |ŋ | |- align="center" ! rowspan="2" |Plosive !plain |p &emsp;b |t &emsp;d | |k &emsp;ɡ | |- align="center" !prenasal |ᵐp&emsp;ᵐb |ⁿt &emsp;ⁿd | |ᵑk&emsp;ᵑɡ | |- align="center" ! rowspan="2" |Affricate !plain | |t͡s &emsp;d͡z | | | |- align="center" !prenasal | |ⁿt͡s&emsp;ⁿd͡z | | | |- align="center" ! rowspan="2" |Fricative !plain |f |s | | |h |- align="center" !prenasal | |ⁿs | | | |- align="center" ! colspan="2" |Lateral | |l | | | |- align="center" ! colspan="2" |Approximant |w | |j | | |}

* /d͡z/ can be heard as alveolar or dental [d̪͡z̪] and /t͡s/ can be alveolar or postalveolar [t͡ʃ], when before front vowels.<ref>{{Cite book|last=de Rop|first=Albert J.|title=Grammaire du lomongo: phonologie et morphologie|publisher=Leuven & Léopoldville: Université Lovanium|year=1958}}</ref>

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" ! !Front !Central !Back |- align="center" !Close |i | |u |- align="center" !Close-mid |e | |o |- align="center" !Open-mid |ɛ | |ɔ |- align="center" !Open | |a | |}

== Oral literature ==

In 1921, Edward Algernon Ruskin, a Christian missionary at Bongandanga from 1891 until 1935 in what was then the Belgian Congo,<ref> [https://calisphere.org/item/1a71cc65018a739956f2df102163d215/ Elders at Bongandango, Congo, ca. 1920-1930] ''Calisphere''. Retrieved July 7, 2024.</ref> published ''[https://archive.org/details/mongoproverbsfab00ruskrich Mongo Proverbs and Fables]'', with the Mongo text and an English translation.<ref>Ruskin, Edward Algernon (1921). ''[https://archive.org/details/mongoproverbsfab00ruskrich Mongo Proverbs and Fables]'' (available online at the Internet Archive).</ref> As Ruskin explains in the foreword to the book, his goal was to train missionaries in the Mongo language. The book contains 405 Mongo proverbs. Here are some examples: *"''Ntambaka jit'a nkusa.''" ("You do not go hunting porcupines and collecting bark for making string at the same time.") (#88) *"''Nkema ntawaka ndesanya.''" ("A monkey is not killed by merely watching it.") (#172) *"''Ise aomaki njoku, beke bempate nko?''" ("Your father killed an elephant, then where are your tusks?") (#219) *"''Tusake wese; wunyu botaka 'akata.''" ("Do not throw away a bone; a piece of lean meat has not yet fallen into your hands.") (#389)

There are also 21 Mongo fables in the book, including a story about ''Ulu,'' the trickster Tortoise.<ref>"Ngila L'Ulu" in Ruskin, Edward Algernon (1921). ''[https://archive.org/details/mongoproverbsfab00ruskrich/page/82/mode/2up?view=theater Mongo Proverbs and Fables]''. pp. 82-86.</ref>

In an earlier booklet, ''[https://archive.org/details/proverbsfabless00ruskgoog Proverbs, Fables, Similes and Sayings of the Bamongo]'', published in 1897, Ruskin provides a word by word analysis of some Mongo proverbs, often accompanied by a brief fable.<ref>Ruskin, Edward Algernon (1897). ''[https://archive.org/details/proverbsfabless00ruskgoog Proverbs, Fables, Similes and Sayings of the Bamongo]'' (available online at the Internet Archive).</ref>

In 1909, Frederick Starr published a collection of 150 Nkundo (Mongo) proverbs with English translations, "Proverbs of Upper Congo,"<ref>Starr, Frederick (1909). [https://archive.org/details/pub-domain-african-proverbs/page/n779/mode/2up "Proverbs of Upper Congo."] ''Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences''. 12: 176-196.</ref> which he selected from a 1904 publication, ''Bekolo bi' ampaka ba Nkundo. Bikolongo la nsako. Beki Bakola otakanyaka'' (''Stories of the Elders of Nkundo: Adages and Proverbs Gathered by Bakola'') by Bakola, also known as Ellsworth Farris, and Royal J. Dye, missionaries based near Coquilhatville (now Mbandaka).<ref>Farris, Ellsworth; Dye, Royal J. (1904). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnjlk7&seq=5 ''Bekolo bi' ampaka ba Nkundo. Bikolongo la nsako. Beki Bakola otakanyaka.''] Page images at HathiTrust; U.S. access only.</ref> Here are some of those proverbs: *"''Bobimbo nko lobya, nk'ome w'etuka.''" "The bobimbo bears no great flowers, but what large fruit it has (i.e. show is not always a sign of substance)." (#24) *"''Bocik'a nsoso: ng'omanga ntokumba, ifoyala lobi enkolonkoko.''" "Spare the chicken: if the wild-cat does not take it, it will become large (i.e. do not despise small things)." (#26) *"''Boseka nkoi, lokola nkingo.''" "The friendship of the leopard, a claw in your neck (i.e. like nursing a serpent)." (#64) *"''Bosai'omonkolo bondotaji mpota, beuma beyokoka l'alongo.''" "One finger gashed, all the fingers are covered with blood (i.e. if one suffers, all are involved)." (#66) Starr is also the author of ''A Bibliography of Congo Languages.''<ref>Starr, Frederick (1908). ''[https://archive.org/details/abibliographyco00librgoog A Bibliography of Congo Languages..]''</ref> For more recent bibliography, see A. J. de Rop's ''La littérature orale mongo,'' published in 1974.<ref>de Rop, A. J. (1974). ''La littérature orale mongo, synthèse et bibliographie.'' Bruxelles: Centre d'Etude et de Documentation Africaines.</ref> For a comprehensive study of Mongo proverbs, see Hulstaert's ''Proverbes mongo'', published in 1958, which contains over 2500 Mongo proverbs with accompanying French translations.<ref>Hulstaert, G. (1958). ''Proverbes mongo.'' Tervuren: Musée Royal du Congo Belge.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070724090444/http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/MongoNkundo Mongo, Nkundo] on PanAfril10n

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mongo language}} Category:Mongo Category:Bangi-Ntomba languages Category:Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo