@BantuLanguages

Bantu languages: popularizing knowledge, sharing doubts / Vitrine sur les langues bantu (pas bantoues!) / Uma entrada nas línguas bantu (não bantas!)

Joined May 2020
  • Tweets4.6K
  • Following1.9K
  • Followers13.1K
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Nzinzi ata akopimbwa likolo, azali ndeke te (lingala) 🇨🇩🇨🇬 La mouche a beau voler haut, ce n'est pas un oiseau (français) 🇫🇷🇨🇦 Even if a fly can fly high, it is not a bird (English) 🇺🇸🇬🇧 Mesmo que a mosca voe alto, não é um pássaro (Português) 🇧🇷🇵🇹 #Lingala #Bantu #Proverbs
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Did you know that as first language (or mother tongue) in Tanzania, the top 5 is as follows ?
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We can hear the proximity between Ntu languages
Scion
@ScionofCultureMar 15
How different African languages sound...
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Depending on the Ntu language, 'mukulu' (or 'mukuru', 'mokolo', 'moholo', etc.) can mean 'adult', 'mature', 'old', or 'important person'. It comes from the verb *-kud- (kura in Kirundi and khula in IsiXhosa, for example), which means 'to grow up'. What do you have in yours?
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Don’t forget heritage from Ntu languages. We have words like soso (chicken) or potopoto (mud)
soft spoken agent indigo
@isitbyforceeSep 20
Okay I don’t understand Jamaican Patois anymore
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How to say « a hundred » in your Ntu language?
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Luganda, Kikongo and any Ntu language have the same mother, while with Yoruba they have the same great-grandmother. It's simply a matter of time depth. Note that Yoruba and Igbo are actually not that similar (not same mother).
BantuBantu@BantuHutuAug 30
But you’ll notice in reality that Bantu languages have nothing in common with “Niger-Congo”. “Niger-Congo” is a false classification and they need to stop trying to attach it to Bantus.
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This video, beautiful 😍
Melz@MaiVekuNgaravaAug 20
Replying to @mphisa_tinashe
All those languages are Bantu meaning they are related except for Khoisan. Multilingualism is not a bane but a blessing in Africa. All these languages carry a rich wealth of knowledge that far surpasses the bastardized language called English.
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I don’t like the word “bantoid” but this is certainly an interesting book to read.
LINGUIST List@linguistlistAug 20
Books: Bantoid and Bantu in Cameroon: Grollemund, Nurse, and Watters (eds.) (2026): This volume focuses on Bantu and the other Bantoid languages of southern Cameroon. This region served as the cradle of the Bantu Expansion, where the Bantu populations… dlvr.it/TV5w5M
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How do you say “forging (iron)” in your Ntu language? kutula (Lingala, Congo) kufula (Siswati, Esw., SAfr) etc…
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Did you know that there is a tool to help you quickly identify in which Ntu language a text was written? bantu-languages.com/identifi…
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Bantu Languages retweeted
Tasmine@TiniwanaAug 8
In Shona (my native tongue) we call motorbikes mudhudhudhu because of the sound it makes. It's not stupid we invented words for new things our predecessors couldn't predict. Which is normal in language
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Bantu Languages retweeted
Lib Bro@Original_LibbroAug 8
Bantus seem to have abandoned oil palm arboriculture after migrating east through the Congo rainforest. This is supported by both anthropological and linguistic evidence 🧵
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Bantu Languages retweeted
Kay@_KayTheLame_Aug 11
Snow in different South African languages: IsiZulu - iqhwa IsiXhosa - ikhephu/iQabaka/iliqhwa Siswati - lichwa Sesotho - leqoa/lehloa Namagowab - !xoab (qhwab) Khoemana - !xoab (qhwab) N||ng - !kwã!kwã (qwaqwa) Afrikaans - sneeu English - snow
Africa Facts Zone
@AfricaFactsZoneAug 11
It is snowing across South Africa 🇿🇦. It now snows annually in the country.
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Endangering Local Languages as a Result of Adopting Swahili in Education, Religion, Politics and Local Trade in Tanzania scirp.org/journal/paperinfor…

Endangering Local Languages as a Result of Adopting Swahili in Education, Religion, Politics and...

scirp.org
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Even for « twins » we are one ! mawasa (Duala, Camerooon) mapasa (Kintandu, DRC) amahasa (Runyoro, Uganda) amaphahla (IsiZulu, S. Africa) #Ntu
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Bantu Languages retweeted
Tim Mutsekwa@tsumekwaJul 14
Huku , chicken . in Bantu languages.
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How do you say raising and lowering a price in your Ntu language?
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The World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL) was first convened in 1994 in what is now Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). Since then, it has been held every three years. The 12th edition will take place in Vienna, Austria, next year.
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The Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP) provides grants for the documentation of endangered languages The 2027 grant round is now open Apply here: grants.eldp.net/en/
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In Eastern Ntu, a common form for “bed” is -didi. For instance uriri, ulili, orere, obuliri, vulili.
Ͳհҽ చąղժҽɾҽɾ@clinswiftJun 23
I know there is a word for beddings, but I'm wondering if African languages have a word for a bed? @BantuLanguages
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