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Chiga

Chiga is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in Uganda, Congo - Kinshasa, and Rwanda, by about 2.4 million people.

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Chiga · 1.0°S 29.9°E

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.

Kiga is so similar to Nkore (84%–94% lexical similarity) that some argue they are dialects of the same language, called Nkore-Kiga by Charles Taylor.

From Wikipedia · Kiga language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in Chiga

MeaningWordRomanization
personntu*
namezino*
eyeiSo*
earto*
noseyindo*
toothino*
tonguerimi*
handkono*
bloodgomo*
bonegufo*
skinho*
kneeZu*
breastbara*
liverna*
wateramaizi
fireriro*
sunzobo*
staryo5ozi*
stonebora*
mountainbuNgo*
treeti*
leafbobi*
nightro*
dogbwo*
fisha5onZo*
lousedo*
onemwa*
twobiri*
I5owa*
youiwa*

* in the simplified ASJP transcription

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

  • NyankoleAtlantic-Congo57% alike
  • TooroAtlantic-Congo48% alike
  • NyoroAtlantic-Congo47% alike
  • KereweAtlantic-Congo46% alike
  • ZinzaAtlantic-Congo45% alike
  • HayaAtlantic-Congo41% alike

Grammar

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

Nearby languages

Elsewhere

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Glottolog · chig1238 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · cgg