Lingala
Lingala is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in Congo - Kinshasa, Congo - Brazzaville, and Central African Republic, by about 20 million people.
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Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: Lingála) is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree as a trade language because of emigration in neighbouring Angola or Central African Republic. Lingala has 20 million native speakers and is used by another 20 million as a second language, for an approximate total of 40 million speakers. A significant portion of both Congolese diasporas speaks Lingala in their countries of immigration like Belgium, France or the United States.
From Wikipedia · Lingala · CC BY-SA 4.0
Written down
Bato nyonso na mbotama bazali nzomi pe bakokani na limemya pe makoki. Bazali na mayele pe basengeli kofanda na bondeko okati na bango.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR in Unicode).
Words in Lingala
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| mother | mama | |
| father | tata | |
| child | mwǎna | |
| man | motu | |
| woman | mwasi | |
| person | moto | |
| name | nkómbó | |
| friend | moninga | |
| eye | liso | |
| ear | likútu | |
| nose | zolo | |
| tooth | lǐno | |
| tongue | lolemu | |
| hand | likanza | |
| heart | motéma | |
| head | motó | |
| blood | makilá | |
| skin | lomposo | |
| knee | libolongo | |
| breast | libele | |
| liver | libale | |
| water | mái | |
| fire | mɔ̌tɔ | |
| sun | mói | |
| moon | sánzá | |
| sky | likolo | |
| rain | mbúla | |
| stone | libanga | |
| mountain | ngómbá | |
| river | ebale |
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- BolokiAtlantic-Congo62% alike
- Loi-LikilaAtlantic-Congo56% alike
- BangalaAtlantic-Congo52% alike
- BolondoAtlantic-Congo48% alike
- MabaaleAtlantic-Congo48% alike
- Ngombe (Democratic Republic of Congo)Atlantic-Congo47% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · ling1263 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · lin