Kirundi

Kirundi, also known as Rundi, is a Bantu language and the national language of Burundi. It is a dialect of Rwanda-Rundi dialect continuum that is also spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Tanzania (in regions close to Kigoma), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, as well as in Kenya. Kirundi is mutually intelligible with Kinyarwanda, the national language of Rwanda, and the two form parts of the wider dialect continuum known as Rwanda-Rundi.

Rundi
Ikirundi
Native toBurundi
EthnicityHutu
Tutsi
Twa
Ganwa
Native speakers
13 million (2021)
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Ikibo
  • Ikirundi
  • Ikiragane
  • Igisoni
  • Ikinyabweru
  • Ikiyogoma
  • Ikimoso
Writing system
Latin
Official status
Official language in
 Burundi
Language codes
ISO 639-1rn Rundi
ISO 639-2run Rundi
ISO 639-3run Rundi
Glottologrund1242  Rundi
rund1241  Rundi-Kitwa
JD.62
PersonUmurundi
PeopleAbarundi
LanguageIkirundi
Countryu Burundi

Kirundi is natively spoken by the Hutu, including Bakiga and other related ethnicities, as well as Tutsi, Twa and Hima among others have adopted the language. Neighbouring dialects of Kirundi are mutually intelligible with Ha, a language spoken in western Tanzania.

Kirundi is one of the languages where Meeussen's rule, a rule describing a certain pattern of tonal change in Bantu languages, is active.

In 2020, the Rundi Academy was established to help standardize and promote Kirundi.

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