Mongo language

Not to be confused with Mongo language (Cameroon), Mongol language, or Daju Mongo language.

Mongo
Nkundu
Lomongo
Region	Democratic Republic of Congo
Ethnicity	Mongo people
Native speakers	(400,000 cited 1995)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone C) Bangi–Ntomba Mongo–Bolia Mongo–Nkunda (C.60) Mongo
Language codes
ISO 639-2	lol
ISO 639-3	lol – inclusive code Individual code: ymg – Yamongeri
Glottolog	mong1338  Mongo bafo1235  Bafoto
Guthrie code	C.61,611; C.36H

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 central DR Congo over a large area inside the curve of the Congo River. Mongo is a tonal language.

There are many dialects. Maho (2009) lists one of these, Bafoto (Batswa de l'Equateur), C.611, as a separate language. The others are:

• 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

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	plain	p  b	t  d		k  ɡ
	prenasal	ᵐp ᵐb	ⁿt  ⁿd		ᵑk ᵑɡ
Affricate	plain		t͡s  d͡z
	prenasal		ⁿt͡s ⁿd͡z
Fricative	plain	f	s			h
	prenasal		ⁿs
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

• /d͡z/ can be heard as alveolar or dental [d̪͡z̪] and /t͡s/ can be alveolar or postalveolar [t͡ʃ], when before front vowels.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

External links

• Mongo, Nkundo on PanAfril10n