An Overview of the Tshilubà Language
Tshilubà (or Cilubà) is a tonal Bantu language primarily spoken in the south-central region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tshilubà is spoken as a first language by the Bakwà Luntu, Bena Konji (or Nkoshi), Bena Lubìlànjì, and Bena Luluwà, who today make up the Kasaians of Lubà origin sub-ethnic group. It is also spoken as a second or third language by the Bushongo, Kete, Lele/Shilele, and indigenous Twa (which collectively make up the Kuba conglomerate), Songye, Tshokwe, Bindji, and many other ethnic groups.
Tshilubà has the privileged status of being a national language alongside Kikongo ya Leta (a Kikongo creole), Kiswahili, and Lingala. According to Guthrie’s classification of Bantu languages (Maho, 2009), Tshilubà, Cilubà or Lubà-Luluà, Lubà-Luluwà (L31) is a Lubà (L30) language. There are a number of Lubà languages in existence, including:
- Kanioka, Kanyok, Kanyoka (L32)
- Lubà-Katanga, Kilubà, East Lubà, Lubà-Shaba (L33)
- Hemba, Kiemba, Kihemba (L34); Yazi (L202), Kizela, Zela, Zeela (L331), Eastern Lubà, Lubà-Hemba, Kebwe (L301)
- Sanga, Garengaze (Garenganze), South Lubà (L35)
The L30 languages listed above are also closely related to the following, each having a distinct and beautiful tongue:
- L20 languages, which are the Songe group. These include: Budya (L201), Yazi (L202), Kete, Lukete, Cikete, Kikète (L21), Lwalwa, Lwalu (L221), Songe, Kisonge, Kisongi, Kisongye, Luba-Songi (L23), Mbangi (L22) Binji, Bindji (L231), Luna-Inkongo, and Northern Lubà (L24)
- L40 languages, which are the Kaonde group, and include: Kaonde, Chikahonde, Chikaonde, Kahonde, Kawonde, Luba-Kaonde (L41)
- L50 languages, which comprise the Lunda Group: Salampasu, Chisalampasu (L51), Luntu, Cikwa Luntu, Tshikwa Luntu (L511), Lunda, Chilunda Southern Lunda, Ndembu (L52), Ruund, Ruwund, Chiluwunda, Lunda Kambove, Northern Lunda, and Kanincin (L53)
- L60 languages of the Nkoya group: (L62), Mbwera (L61)), Kolwe (L601)
(Nurse et al., 2019)
The languages listed above are not dialects of Tshilubà, as some boldly claim; they are distinctly different languages that have their own dialects. Furthermore, they did not evolve from Tshilubà, as others have claimed. They are, in fact, wholly unique.
Maho (2009) lists two distinct Tshilubà dialects: Lubà-Kasaï, Tshilubà, Cilubà (L31a), and Luluà, Luluwà, West Lubà (L31b). The Bena Konji dialect (Tshiena Konji/Cyena Konji), which has yet to be given a linguistic label, is sometimes treated as a dialect of the Bena Luluwà dialects (Cyena Luluwà/Tshiena Luluwà) (Kutangidiku, 2019). Some scholars group Tshiena Konji with Tshikwà Luntu (Cikwà Luntu) or Luntu (L511); the Bena Konji and Bakwà Luntu are thought to have ‘once formed a single ethnic group’ resulting in the similarities therein (Petridis, 2005, p. 52).
Despite its apparent mutual intelligibility with other Tshilubà dialects, Tshikwà Luntu is, in actual fact, classified as a dialect of Salampasu (L51) rather than Tshilubà. Glottolog and Van de Velde et al. (2019) classify it in a way which suggests a Lunda origin. The Bakwà Luntu are currently thought to be Lunda migrants who separated from the Salampasu and later settled near traditional Bena Luluwà territories prior to the arrival of the Europeans to the Congo Basin. Despite this premise, Tshikwà Luntu is given the label L31c (Tshimanga, 2016, p. 130; Bostoen, 2003, p. 32) in some linguistic literature. Regardless of academic debates, it is important to remember that Tshikwà Luntu is considered a legitimate Tshilubà dialect by Tshilubàphones.
Comparison of Dialects
A Comparison of Tshiena Luluwà and Tshikwà Luntu/Tshiena Konji Dialects by Etienne Tshimanga Kutangidiku (2019):
A full list can be found in the book.
“I say (said) I’m coming now”
Ndi ngamba ne ndodwa mpindieu — Tshikwà Luntu (Cikwà Luntu) and Tshiena Konji (Cyena Nkoshi) dialects, spoken in and around Kananga and the Bena Konji region.
Ndi ngamba ne nlwalwa mpindieu — Tshiena Demba a Mutu (Cyena Demba a Mutu), spoken in Demba by the Basangana, Bakwà Beya, Bashila Mpampya, Bena Tshidila, and others.
Ndi ngamba ne ndolwa mpindieu — Tshiena Demba a Manda (Cyena Demba a Manda), spoken in Demba by the Bakwà Mwansa ba Tshinyama (Bakwa Mwansa ba Cinyama), Bena Tshiadi, Bakwa Longo, and others.
Ndi ngamba ne ndwalwa mpindieu — Tshishila Kasanga/Tshijila Kasanga (Cishila Kasanga/Cijila Kasanga), spoken in Luebo by the Bashila Kasanga, Bakwa Mfunyi, Bakwa Katawa, and others.
Ndi mmwambile ne ndi nlwa mpindieu — Tshishilangi (Cishilangi), spoken in Tshikapa by the Bashilanga.
Ndi ngamba ne ndi nlwa mpindieu — Tshikwà Katawa ka Kulu (Cikwà katawa kaa kuulu), spoken in the Kananga hinterlands by the Bakwà Mbuyi, Bena Mande, Bashila Kasanga/Bajila Kasanga, Bakwa Meta, and others.
The Evolution of Tshilubà
Today, the majority of Tshilubà speaking ethnic groups and clans are patrilineal, with some practising forms of patrilineality and matrilineality. For example, amongst the Bena Luluwà sub-ethnic group, when a child is born outside of marriage or when the dowry has not been fully fulfilled, that child is considered to be part of their mother’s clan (Lukusa, 2009). Lubà-speaking people were socially and culturally heterogeneous, with some being patrilineal, like the Balubà Lolo or Balubà Shakandi (also referred to as Lubà-Katanga, Lubà of Katanga, Lubàkat, Lubà-Shaba, Shaban-Lubà) (Vansina, 2004), and others being matrilineal, like the Hemba (Reefe, 1981) and Sanga (Shillington, 2013). Research also suggests that Tshilubà evolved from languages spoken by matrilineal proto-Central Savanna societies.
Saidi (2010) theorises that the particle -ena, used to express belonging, membership, ownership, provenance, occupation, characteristics, and personality (muena/mwena sing. bena pl.), is derived from the old Bantu root -ina-, which expresses ‘mother’, further emphasising the matrilineal connection.
Clans in proto-Lubà were originally “people [ba- plural class prefix x] of the mother [*-ina-] so-and-so.” This prefix reveals the existence of matriclan organisation among the early Lubà of fifteen hundred to a thousand years ago. p.84
Around the 9th century, the speech patterns of the Balubà Lolo and Kasaians of Lubà origin began to diversify. In The Kanyok of Zaire: An Institutional and Ideological History to 1895, John Yoder explains that Lubà-speaking groups had not maintained enough contact to preserve their linguistic uniformity, so their language eventually changed (1991).
Standardisation
Tshilubà is standardised. Standard Tshilubà is spoken to varying degrees across south-central Congo, particularly in urban areas such as Mbùji-Mâyi and Kanàngà. During the First National Seminar of Zaire Linguists (Le Premier Séminaire National des Linguistes du Zaïre) in May 1974, recommendations for the standardisation of Tshilubà were proposed. Although standard Tshilubà contains elements of a multitude of Tshilubà dialects, its foundations are rooted in Tshikwà Dishi/Cikwà Dishì (spoken by the Bakwà Dishi) and Tshiena Mpukà/Cyena Mpukà (spoken by the Bena Mpuka) (Maalu-Bungi, 1991). In the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo, these two dialects, alongside others spoken in Kàsayì-Oriental, were privileged over others despite being minority dialects. Their ascendancy was a result of their speakers’ proximity to colonial powers and missionaries. Maalu-Bungi explains:
Although living in a predominantly Luluwà environment, the Catholic missionaries nevertheless chose, as the basis of the standard Cilubà, two Lubà varieties, Cikwà Dishì and Cyena Mpukà, for very simple historical reasons: it was, in fact, the Lubà speakers [of Kàsayì-Oriental], their first collaborators, who served as informants and faithful auxiliaries to the work of evangelisation. (p.185)
This was especially the case for the Bakwà Dishi, whose dialect continued to dominate even after gaining independence, making it the practical choice to be the dialect on which standard Tshilubà should be based.
In Kàsayì, the ethnic label “Lubà” became associated with the Tshilubà-speaking ethnic group who were, at that time, privileged over other ethnic groups due to the rules of colonial proximity. They were prioritised in the labour market and therefore acquired the most senior positions. Resources were disproportionately allocated to the Bena Lubìlànjì; the Bakwà Luntu, Bena Konji, and Bena Luluwà received very little in comparison.
Colonists used stereotypes to justify the unequal distribution of power and resources in order to further divide groups and maintain control. The Bena Lubìlànjì were labelled as progressive (e.g. for their demonstrated efforts in the Christianisation and evangelising mission) and hardworking. In contrast, groups such as the Bena Luluwà were said to be conservative (e.g. for their lack of efforts in the Christianisation and evangelising mission) and lazy (Nzongola-Ntalaja, 2013). The ethnic antagonism created by missionaries, the colonial government, and corporations produced inequalities and rivalry amongst the Tshilubà-speaking ethnic groups. The rivalry between the two groups consisted of interpersonal problems causing divisions within families. Rivalries produced civil unrest, with both Bena Luluwà houses and Bena Lubìlànjì houses burnt down. People were attacked and killed on the streets in broad daylight. Politicians were also divided; when the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) political party, which was founded in 1958, split into different fractions, many Bena Luluwà politicians remained with the president of the party, Patrice Lumumba, a Pan-Africanist and nationalist politician who went onto become the country’s first Prime Minister in 1960, while many Bena Lubìlànjì politicians joined the fraction created by secessionist politician Albert Kalonji who went on to be the leader of the ethnocratic-monarchist state South Kasai (30th June, 1960–5th October 1962). The fractiousness lead to the violent expulsions of Bena Lubìlànjì people from Luluwà territories and the Bena Luluwà-Balubà (Bena Lulua-Baluba) war of 1959.
Identity
Outside of linguistic classifications and literature, “Lubà” or “Balubà” usually refers to the Balubà Lolo, the descendants of the Lubà kingdom (16th — 19th century) who speak Kilubà. Lubà-Kàsayì or Lubà-Kasaï refers to the Bena Lubìlànjì sub-ethnic group of Kàsayì-Oriental, who are known as the Bambo in Songye oral history (lwa Malale, 2015). Ngo Semzara Kabuta (1998) casts the Bena Lubìlànjì as the ‘Balubà proper’ (p. 39) despite them legitimising their Lubà identity by claiming to be direct descendants of the Lubà kingdom (and Kilubà-speaking clans), which was founded by Nkòngòlò who is said to have come from the Songye (Gondola, 2002; Shillington, 2018), while Balubà Lolo writers such as Lukanda lwa Malale (2015) reject such claims and casts the Balubà Lolo as ‘les vrais Baluba’ (p.54). Kilubà is also closer in mutual intelligibility to languages such as Bangubangu of Mutingua (D20) (80%), Kikaonde (84%), Yazi-Hemba (78%), Kihemba (84% in Coupez et al., 1976) than it is to Tshilubà (72%) (de Maret and Smith, 2016) — Kihemba diverged from Kilubà around 500 years ago, while Tshilubà and Kilubà diverged from each other over 1,200 years ago (Reefe, 1981), around the 9th century, as argued by Yoder (1991).
However, Songye and Kanyok oral histories recount successive waves of migrations and invasions from Grand Katanga to what is now known as Grand Kàsayì. Ndaywel è Nziem (1999) suggests that following the foundation of the Lubà kingdom, a succession of wars and famines resulted in a number of groups migrating out of Grand Katanga. Ndaywel è Nziem (1999) further explains:
Famine is given as a major motive for movement in many traditions of kinship groups in Kasai, not only for leaving Shaba [Grand Katanga] but also when explaining why they left the Lubilash in Kasai to move west towards the Lulua river. They point to a real dynamic of population shift. But all the Luba Kasai could not have left Shaba in one or two waves. Probably, whenever famine hit, some southerners moved north and continued to do so until at least the early 18oos. In this area Ciluba and related languages and dialects are spoken, all markedly different from Kiluba, spoken in Shaba. Central Kasai, therefore, must have been occupied by such speakers for many hundreds of years, just as the northern country between Lubilash and Lualaba was occupied by Songye whose speech forms another branch in the Luba family of speech.(p.594)
Mutombo (2009) agrees with Ndaywel è Nziem’s hypothesis. He explains that groups emigrated gradually towards the Luluwà River as a result of famines and dissensions that occurred within groups.
These people have been identified as the Bena Luluwà by Lufuluabo (1990) and the Lubà-Kàsayì (Bena Lubìlànjì) by Yoder (2002). The Bena Lubìlànjì and Bena Luluwà’s migration histories could explain why they have almost been forgotten in Balubà Lolo history and are referred to as ‘imposters’ by some today — the Bena Lubìlànjì and Bena Luluwà combat questions around their legitimacy by referring to the Nsànga à Lubangu (also Nsànga à Lubanga, Nsàngu Lubangu, or Nsànga Lubanga) migration myth. The title of this myth refers to a notched oak tree (lusànga ‘oak tree’, nsànga pl., lubangu ‘notch’ mbangu pl.), but some accounts state it is the name of the village located in Grand Katanga from which all Kasaians of Lubà origin are descended from. Other accounts interpret the name’s significance differently, claiming it is ‘a piece of bark was removed from the tree’s stem — to mark the last gathering place from which some Lubà embarked for the Kasai region in the west’ (Petridis, p.12, 2018). Nsànga à Lubangu is an assertion of collective memory and identity and cannot necessarily be located, and appears in more instances than only Bena Lubìlànjì and Bena Luluwà migration accounts. Petridis (2005) notes that some Bakwà Luntu clans place it near Lac Munkamba, Dimbelenge (Kàsayì-Central), which could be where they finally settled after they migrated from Lunda and separated from the Salampasu. The Bambala, a Njila-speaking ethnic group, locate Nsànga a Lubangu in Luiza, Kàsayì-Central. Even amongst the Bena Luluwà, the Nsànga à Lubangu origin myth has not always been central to their identity. According to Vansina (1985):
By the 1950s the Lulua of Zaire were telling that they originated in a place called Nsangu Lubangu, although that was not what their traditions had been saying hitherto. The old men who knew the older traditions believed that they had been mistaken, since the Nsangu Lubangu account was taught in a school and schoolmasters must be right. (p. 111)
The Bena Luluwà have been known by different names throughout their history: once known as Bashilange by the Tshokwe (Chokwe), Bapemba by the Bena Lubìlànjì, Balubà bà Mwanza by their Kete neighbours, and Bena Moyo (Mutombo, 2009; Petridis, 2018) or Bamoyo (Lukusa, 2009). It is difficult to say to what extent this has contributed to the questions around their legitimacy and rights to claim Lubà identity, but what is certain is that the Lubà identity has purposely been narrowed and reshaped by colonial agents and actors to exclude ethnic groups such the Bena Luluwà, but also the Bakwà Luntu, Songye, and Kanyok, who were denied, and also denied membership to Lubà-Kàsayì sub-ethnic group (Turner, 1993) and wider Lubà identity. Most if not all Bakwà Luntu, Bena Konji, and Bena Luluwà groups identify as Lubà (-Kàsayì) today whilst also maintaining their own distinct ethnic identities.
The Influence of Tshilubà on Other Languages
Tshilubà has influenced neighbouring languages such as Bushong/Kuba (C83), a Mongo language, Kikète (L21) (e.g. Kete-Lulua/Kete-Luluwà or South-West Kete (L21C), which evolved as a result of the interactions between the Kete and the Bena Luluwà, and many others. In Being Colonized: The Kuba Experience in Rural Congo, 1880–1960 (2010), Jan Vansina notes that the Kuba or Bushongo word ‘mbaan’ (meaning ‘price’) derives from ‘mbànda’ (‘salt cake’), a dish the Kuba so ‘valued for their taste that Kuba parties went far south [to Luluwà villages] to obtain them, despite the existence of plantations of vegetal potassium salt near some of their own villages’ (p. 13).
Beyond its neighbours, Tshilubà influences are also found in languages spoken throughout the Americas. The Gullah Geechee people of north America, for example, have preserved many naming traditions which were practised by the Bakwà Luntu, Bena Konji, Bena Lubìlànjì, and Bena Luluwà. These include naming children based on the circumstances of their conception, birth, and characteristics, in addition to the use of private names, locally known as ‘basket names’. In Africanisms in American Culture, Joseph E. Holloway (2005) writes about the similarities between Tshilubàphone groups (who he labels simply as ‘Lubà’) and Gullah Geechee naming traditions. He considers a variety of names, their meanings, and their histories. For example:
Sebe, a Gullah name meaning “a leather ornament” (which) comes from Mêsu “eyes”, Kudima, and Kudiya, are all Gullah day names, exactly the same in Gullah and Lubà. (p.91)
The shared features of Gullah Geechee and Tshilubà names and their traditions can be observed across several examples, which follow:
Gullah Geechee: Ndomba — “I am begging (with my outstretched hand)”
Tshilubà: Ndomba — “the one who asks” / “I am asking” / “I am appealing”, a name given to a breech baby whose hand protrudes first, derived from the verb kulòmba, “to ask” / “to appeal”
Gullah Geechee: Mviluki — “a penitent person”, the one who does not forget his sins
Tshilubà: Mvuluki — “the one who remembers”, derived from the verb kuvùluka, “to remember”
Gullah Geechee: Singiula — “to help” / “to save”
Tshilubà: Sùngila — “the one who protects” / “the one who delivers” / “the one who saves” from the verb kusùngila, “to protect from” / “to protect for” / “to deliver from” / “to save”
Holloway suggests the Gullah Geechee ‘Kamba’, meaning ‘grave’, comes from the Tshilubà word ‘nkambwà’, which is most commonly translated as just ‘ancestor’ but means ‘the spirit of the paternal grandmother’ (Mudingay, 2017). ‘Mukàmbà’, meaning ‘woman who does not want to get married’ and ‘widow’, is also another possibility.
The Influence of Other Languages on Tshilubà
Tshilubà has been influenced by Indo-European languages, such as English (e.g. cìkukù/tshìkukù, kitchen), French (e.g. kubènesha, to bless), and Portuguese (e.g. cisàbatà/tshisàbatà, a shoe), through colonialism. It has also been influenced by other Bantu languages such as Kiswahili (e.g. nsukàdi, sugar), Kikongo (e.g. mulongeshi, teacher), Kikete (e.g. kwambika, to give), and many others. Kiswahili loanwords found in the Tshilubà lexicon are mainly a result of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade (or Arab Slave Trade), which led to the enslavement and internal displacement of many Lubà-speaking groups (Lufuluabo, 1990) from Grand Katanga and Grand Kàsayì, as well as non-Lubà groups who were assumed to be Lubà by European colonial administrators and missionaries.
In eastern Kasai, much of the population was dislocated and disorganized as a result of the Arab incursions and the subsequent campaigns against them. At a very early date, an uprooted class, no doubt including many Baluba but also many others, took refuge around the European posts. Visiting Lusambo, Kasai, in 1908, Hilton-Simpson, a member of the Torday expedition, reported an “enormous” African population. A number of separate ethnic villages were grouped around the post; however,” in addition to these, there is a very large mixed population of natives belonging to no particular village, who are generally termed Baluba by the white men of the Kasai, but who in reality belong to that tribe no more than to any other.” These included the former Arab slaves, the uprooted, the outcasts, many of whom had no idea from what village they came — Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives.
The Tshilubà lexicon incorporated Kikongo loanwords due to trade, labour migrations, and colonial missionary education (Lufuluabo, 1990). For instance, the word ‘Nzambì’ was popularised by Protestant missionaries, while Catholic missionaries favoured native Tshilubà expressions such as ‘Mvìdi Mukùlù’ and ‘Mulopò’ (Pongo, 1997). It is common to hear Protestants refer to the Bible as ‘Mukàndà wà Nzambì’, meaning ‘the book of Nzambì’; on the other hand, Catholics prefer the term ‘Mukàndà wà Mvìdi Mukùlù’, meaning ‘the book of Mvìdi Mukùlù’.
Kikongo loanword for the divine:
- Nzambì
Non-loanwords for the divine:
- Maweja ‘the proper title for God the self-created’
- Maweja Nnangila ‘Maweja who is to be loved’
- Mulopò ‘the Official Messenger’/’the Official Messenger of Maweja’
- Mvìdi Mukùlù ‘the Elder Spirit’
- Tshiâma/Cyâma (or Tshiâme/Cyâme) ‘Mother God’, ‘the Divine Mother’
The phrase ‘Tatù Nzambì,’ meaning ‘father God’ in Tshilubà, is also derived from Kikongo; no manifestation of Maweja is described as ‘father’. The idea of God or the Divine as ‘the father’ is a result of Christianisation. Maweja is described as Tshiâma; Maweja wa Tshiâma ‘Maweja, child of Mother God’; Tshiâma wa Mvìdi Mukùlù, ‘Mother God of the Elder Spirit’; Mvìdi Mukùlù wa Tshiâma, ‘the Elder Spirit of Mother God’; and Tshiâma wa Mvìdi Mukùlù, ‘Mother God of the Elder Spirit.’ Furthermore, despite the various appellations and manifestations of the Divine, the ancestors of modern-day Tshilubà-speaking ethnic groups were monotheistic.
The title of MwâMulopò, meaning ‘Mother of God’ or more precisely ‘Mother of Mulopò, the Official Messenger of Maweja’, is given to an initiated female diviner who can become possessed by benevolent spirits. The title Mulopò is sometimes mistaken for the title Mùlòpò, which means ‘subordinate chief’. Mfùmù is a term for ‘chief’; the title is also used to refer to any head of state; Christians use the word to refer to Jesus Christ. Mukalenge (also spelt Mukelenge or Mukalenga; Mukalenge Mukàjì ‘female head-chief’, and Mukalenge Mulùme ‘male head-chief’) is the title given to the highest-ranking chief and is commonly mistranslated as ‘king’. Similar to the title Mfùmù, Christians use the word Mukalenge to refer to Jesus Christ.
Tshilubà-speaking ethnic groups also adopted Kilubà words, such as Mulopwe, which refers to a divine king, despite not having maintained or developed such kingship traditions when they migrated from Grand Katanga. Ndaywel è Nziem (1999) tells us:
Although to the south, in Shila and Kanyok country, a variant of the Shaban [Katanga] Luba political system was set up, in Kasai this did not occur. Here the political organization was either limited to the village and its land or higher office was given for life — or even for a limited period — to the highest bidder, a system also found among some Songye. The Luba Kasai also adopted some emblems and some political practices from the Kanyok. (p.594–595)
Reefe (1977) explains that the title Mulopwe is used to refer to a Lubà Lolo royal male who has undergone the royal investiture ceremony. It is also used to refer to a Lubà Lolo client chief. The Lunda also use it, and some have suggested it has the same etymology as the Kisongye word Mulofo ‘chief’ and the Tshilubà words Mulopò and Mùlòpò. However, ‘although various etymologies have been suggested for mulopwe, the origins of the term remain unclear.’ (p.196)
The Tshilubà language has evolved over several thousand years as a result of migrations, colonial interventions, manipulations, and language politics. Notably, elements of this language have been preserved in the Americas by the descendants of enslaved Africans. As the language persists, it will undoubtedly continue to adapt and develop, and respond to the evolving needs of its speakers both at home and in the diaspora.
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