{{short description|Language of the Kiga people}} {{see also|Nkore-Kiga language}} {{Infobox language |name = Kiga |altname = Chiga |nativename = ''Orukiga'' |states = Uganda, Rwanda |ethnicity = Bakiga, Twa |speakers = 1.6 million |date = 2002 census |ref = e18 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo |fam3=Volta-Congo |fam4=Benue–Congo |fam5=Bantoid |fam6=Southern Bantoid |fam7=Bantu |fam8=Northeast Bantu |fam9=Great Lakes Bantu |fam10=West Nyanza |fam11=Rutara |fam12=North Rutara |fam13=Nkore-Kiga-Nyoro-Tooro |fam14=Nkore-Kiga |stand1 =Runyakitara |iso3 = cgg |glotto=chig1238 |glottorefname=Chiga |guthrie = JE.14 |notice=IPA }} [[File:WIKITONGUES- Paison speaking Kiga and English.webm|thumb|A Kiga speaker, recorded in Uganda.]] '''Kiga''' (also called ''Rukiga'', ''Ruchiga'', or ''Chiga'') is a Great Lakes Bantu language of the Kiga people (''Bakiga''). Kiga is a similar and partially mutually intelligible with the Nkore language. It was first written in the second half of the 19th century.
Kiga is largely spoken in the ancient Kigezi region which includes about 5 districts, namely Rubanda, Rukiga, Kabale, Kanungu and some parts of Rukungiri. As of 2021, Kiga is spoken natively by about 1.3 million people in Uganda.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}
Kiga is so similar to Nkore (84%–94% lexical similarity<ref name="Lewis 2009">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nyn|title=Ethnologue Report for Language Code: nyn|editor-last=Lewis|editor-first=Paul M. |year=2009|work=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition|publisher=SIL International|access-date=9 December 2009|location=Dallas, TX}}</ref>) that some argue they are dialects of the same language, called Nkore-Kiga by Charles Taylor.<ref name="Poletto 1998">{{Cite book|last=Poletto|first=Robert E.|title=Topics in Runyankore Phonology|location=Linguistics Graduate Program, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio|year=1998|url=ftp://ftp.ling.ohio-state.edu/pub/odden/Polettodissertation.pdf|access-date=Dec 8, 2009}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Phonology == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Central !Back |- !Close |{{IPAlink|i}} | |{{IPAlink|u}} |- !Mid |{{IPAlink|ɛ}} | |{{IPAlink|o}} |- !Open | | colspan="2" |{{IPAlink|a}} |}
* Sounds /i, u/ can also range to [ɪ, ʊ] when short or lax. * /a/ can range from a central [ä] to a back [ɑ] sound.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+Consonants ! colspan="2" | !Labial !Alveolar !Post-alv./<br>Palatal !Velar !Glottal |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |{{IPAlink|m}} |{{IPAlink|n}} |{{IPAlink|ɲ}} |{{IPAlink|ŋ}} | |- ! rowspan="2" |Plosive/<br>Affricate !{{small|voiceless}} |{{IPAlink|p}} |{{IPAlink|t}} |{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}} |{{IPAlink|k}} | |- !{{small|voiced}} |{{IPAlink|b}} |{{IPAlink|d}} |{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}} |{{IPAlink|g}} | |- ! rowspan="2" |Fricative !{{small|voiceless}} |{{IPAlink|f}} |{{IPAlink|s}} |{{IPAlink|ʃ}} | |{{IPAlink|h}} |- !{{small|voiced}} |{{IPAlink|v}} |{{IPAlink|z}} |{{IPAlink|ʒ}} | | |- ! colspan="2" |Trill | |{{IPAlink|r}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Approximant | | |{{IPAlink|j}} |{{IPAlink|w}} | |}
* /r/ can also be heard as a glide [ɹ] in free variation. * /b/ can be heard as [ʋ] in intervocalic positions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Charles |title=Nkore-Kiga |publisher=London: Croom Helm |year=1985}}</ref>
==Orthography== Source:<ref>{{cite web |title=Kiga language |url=https://www.omniglot.com/charts/kiga.pdf |website=Omniglot |access-date=19 March 2026}}</ref>
* a - [a] ** ai - [ai̯] * b - [b] * ch - [t͡ʃ] (sometimes written 'c') * (d - [d]) * e - [ɛ] ** ei - [ɛi̯] * f - [f] * g - [g] (not before vowels), [gʲ] (before /i/) ** gy - [ɟ] (/ɡ/ before vowels other than /i/) * h - [h] * i - [i] * j - [d͡ʒ] * k - [k] (not before vowels), [kʲ] (before /i/) ** ky - [c] (/k/ before vowels other than /i/) * m - [m] ** mp - [mp] ** mw - [mw] * n - [n] ** nd - [nd] ** ng - [ŋ] ** ny - [ɲ] * o - [ɔ] ** oi - [ɔi̯] * (p - [p]) * r - [r] * s - [s] ** sh - [ʃ] * t - [t] * ts - [t͡s] * u - [u] * v - [v] * w - [w] * y - [j] * z - [z]
D and P are only used in foreign names and loanwords.
==Grammar== {{Unreferenced section|date=July 2025}} 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 {{IPAblink|l}} is not distinctive in Rukiga. The letter "r" is used instead.
==See also== *Runyakitara language *Nkore-Kiga
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Pygmy languages}} {{Languages of Uganda}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones J–M)}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiga Language}} Category:Languages of Uganda Category:Nyoro-Ganda languages