| Rwanda-Rundi | |
| Region: | Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, DR Congo, Tanzania, Kenya |
| Ethnicity: | Hutu, Tutsi, Twa, Ganwa, Ha, Shubi, Hangaza, Vinza |
| Speakers: | million |
| Date: | 2001–2007 |
| Ref: | [1] |
| 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 |
| Glotto: | rwan1241 |
| Glottorefname: | West Highlands Kivu |
| Nation: |  Rwanda(as Kinyarwanda)  Burundi(as Kirundi) |
| Dia1: | Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) |
| Dia2: | Rundi (Kirundi) |
| Dia3: | Ha |
| Dia4: | Shubi |
| Dia5: | Hangaza |
| Dia6: | Vinza |
| Dia7: | Kinyabwisha |
| Dia8: | Kinyamulenge |
| Dia9: | Rufumbira |
| Lc1: | kin |
| Ld1: | Rwanda |
| Lc2: | run |
| Ld2: | Rundi |
| Lc3: | haq |
| Ld3: | Ha |
| Lc4: | suj |
| Ld4: | Shubi |
| Lc5: | han |
| Ld5: | Hangaza |
| Lc6: | vin |
| Ld6: | Vinza |
Rwanda-Rundi is a group of Bantu languages, specifically a dialect continuum, spoken in Central Africa. Two dialects, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, have been standardized as the national languages of Burundi and Rwanda respectively. These neighbouring dialects are mutually intelligible, but other dialects which are more distant ones may not be. The other dialects are spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinyabwisha in North Kivu, Kinyamulenge in South Kivu), Uganda (Rufumbira, spoken by the Bafumbira in Kisoro District), and Tanzania; Ha, with one million speakers, is the most widely spoken.
Kinyarwanda and Kirundi are very similar in many aspects, but differ in several ways as well.
Both languages are tonal languages. High and low tones (or H and L) are the essential tones and, having a phonemic distinction on vowel length, when a long vowel changes from a low tone to a high tone it is marked as a rising tone and when a long vowel changes from a high tone to a low tone, it is marked as a falling tone. This is often illustrated in Kirundi in Meeussen's rule. Propositions have also been made that tones can shift by a metrical or rhythmic structure.
| Symbol1 | Explanation | Kinyarwanda | Kirundi | Part of speech | English (definition) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain vowel (a, e, i, o, u) | Short vowel Low tone | (gu)saba | Verb | ask, request | ||
| umugezi | Noun | stream, river | ||||
| (gu)shyika | (gu)shika | Verb | arrive | |||
| ikiraro | Noun | bridge | ||||
| gusa | Incomparable adjective | only, just | ||||
| Acute vowel (á, é, í, ó, ú) | Short vowel High tone | inká | Noun | cow | ||
| intébe | chair | |||||
| igití | tree, stick, wood | |||||
| urugó | yard, corral | |||||
| urutúgu | shoulder | |||||
| Circumflex vowel (Kinyarwanda) (â, ê, î, ô, û) | Short vowel High tone | inkâ | inká | Noun | cow | |
| intêbe | intébe | chair | ||||
| igitî | igití | tree, stick, wood | ||||
| urugô | urugó | yard, corral | ||||
| urutûgu | urutúgu | shoulder | ||||
| Circumflex vowel (Kirundi) (â, ê, î, ô, û) | Short vowel High tone (on the accent vowel in Kinyarwanda) | amáazi | amâzi | Noun | water | |
| (gu)téeka | (gu)têka | Verb | cook | |||
| izíiko | izîko | Noun | hearth | |||
| (ku)ryóoha | (ku)ryôha | Verb | taste good | |||
| (gu)kúunda | (gu)kûnda | love, like | ||||
| macron vowel (Kirundi only) (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) | Long vowel Low tone (both letters in low tone in Kinyarwanda) | igisaabo | igisābo | Noun | gourd | |
| icyeegeera | icēgēra | plant | ||||
| (ku)giisha | (ku)gīsha | Verb | make go | |||
| ingoona | ingōna | Noun | crocodile | |||
| uruuho | urūho | gourd (utensil) | ||||
| Caron vowel (Kirundi only) (ǎ, ě, ǐ, ǒ, ǔ) | Long vowel High tone (on the accent vowel in Kinyarwanda) | ububaásha | ububǎsha | Noun | ability | |
| Abeéga | Aběga | Plural noun | Tutsis, Tutsi clan | |||
| umuhiígi | umuhǐgi | Noun | hunter | |||
| umukoóbwa | umukǒbwa | girl | ||||
| umuúnsi | umǔsi | day, date | ||||
| Diaeresis vowel (Kirundi only) (ä, ë, ï, ö, ü) | Long vowel High tone | No equivalent tonal pattern | bäkoze | Verb | they did | |
| mwëse | Noun | all of you | ||||
| narï nzi | Verb | I thought, I knew | ||||
| böse | Noun | all of them | ||||
| warüzi | Verb | you thought, you knew | ||||
| 1 These symbols are only used in transcription, for example in a dictionary, but in other forms of writing, plain vowels are used and letters are not doubled (unless if the word itself is spelt in that way). | ||||||
| Formation | Kinyarwanda | Kirundi | Part of speech | English (definition) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| c+y | cyane | cane | Adverb | very |
| cyanjye | canje | Possessive pronoun, possessive adjective | mine, my | |
| icyubahiro | icubahiro | Noun | respect | |
| ntacyo | ntaco | Indefinite pronoun | nothing | |
| j+y | -jya | -ja | Prefix, verb | go |
| njyewe | njewe | Object pronoun | me | |
| yanjye | yanje | Possessive pronoun, possessive adjective | mine, my | |
| sh+y | -shyira | -shira | Prefix, verb | put, place |
| indeshyo | indesho | Noun | height | |
| nshya | nsha | Adjective | new | |
| b+y v+y | umubyeyi | umuvyeyi | Noun | parent |
| -gorobye | -gorovye | Prefix, verb | became evening | |
| -ibye | -ivye | Prefix, possessive pronoun, verb | his (multiple objects), stole |
There are many instances in which the two speech varieties of both languages have words that are slightly different. However, these differences do not continually recur. One has to memorize such differences as "-anga" in Kinyarwanda in contrast to "-anka" in Kirundi (meaning to dislike or hate), because the shift from "g" to "k" is extremely rare, with proof being words like "inka" (cow), "inkono" (pot) and many other words where "nk" is common in both dialects. Such minor variations involve different consonants, vowels or vowel lengths, tones or affixes.
| Summary | Rwanda | Rundi | Part of speech | English (definition) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consonants | impyisi | imfyisi | Plural noun | hyena, jackal | |
| (kw)anga | (kw)anka | Verb | dislike, hate | ||
| amagambo | amajambo | Plural noun | words | ||
| umunsi | umusi | Noun | day, date | ||
| ijosi | izosi | neck | |||
| Vowels | ibiyobe | ibiyoba | Plural noun | peanuts | |
| (ku)yogoza | (ku)yogeza | Verb | annihilate | ||
| (ku)reba | (ku)raba | see, look | |||
| Vowel length | /-riinganira/ | /-ringanira/ | Prefix, verb | be of equal length | |
| /-pima/ | /-piima/ | measure, weigh | |||
| /-sáagura/ | /-sáaguura/ | be in excess | |||
| Tone | /umukonó/ | /umukóno/ | Noun | signature | |
| /mugufí/ | /mugúfi/ | Adjective | short | ||
| /ikiguzí/ | /ikigúzi/ | Noun | price, value | ||
| Formation | nyirabukwe | inabukwe | Noun | mother-in-law | |
| nyirakuru | inakuru | grandmother1 | |||
| Mixed | umugati | umukate | Noun | bread | |
| 1 In both Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, nyogokuru is more commonly used to mean "grandmother". | |||||