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Zaire LANGUAGES
Zaire has been cited as having as many as 250 languages
spoken
within its borders. In fact, the exact number is difficult
to
specify; it depends on whether or not a particular tongue
is
defined as a distinct language or merely as a dialect of a
neighboring one.
Officially Recognized Languages
French, an inheritance from the Belgian colonial era,
remains
the primary language of government, of the formal economy,
and of
most educational instruction. Four indigenous languages
have also
been recognized as having official status since the
colonial era,
namely Kikongo, Tshiluba, Lingala, and Kiswahili. All have
been
used at various times in official documents, in religious
works, in
school instruction, and in various published works. Some
of these
languages have also been used in radio and television
broadcasts.
Early missionaries attempted the standardization of
orthography
and grammar for these and other languages. Lomongo, for
example,
has seen wide use in much of the Congo River basin, in
large part
because of its use and promotion by missionary evangelists
and
educators. Sango, a trade language used along the northern
border
with the Central African Republic, was similarly promoted,
although
on a smaller scale and with less success as a result of
competition
with Lingala.
Of the four most widely used indigenous languages, two
are
identified with Zaire's two largest ethnic groups, namely,
Tshiluba
with the Luba-Kasai of south-central Zaire and Kikongo
with the
Kongo of southwestern Zaire. Tshiluba orthography has been
relatively standardized. Kikongo, however, has long
existed in
several dialects, one of which evolved into a trade
language called
Fiote used in contact with Europeans. Its use by early
Belgian
colonial authorities led to its being called "state
Kikongo." It is
also known as Kituba or Monokutuba and has long been
spoken across
the border in Congo; radio broadcasts in the language are
made in
both countries.
Kiswahili penetrated Zaire from the east, imported by
Arab
slavers in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It
spread
over time throughout eastern Zaire and quickly established
itself
in the ethnically mixed population of the copper-belt
towns. Once
established, it endured; even the influx of large numbers
of
Tshiluba-speaking migrants to the copper towns failed to
displace
Kiswahili.
Since independence, the most prominent of the four
principal
indigenous languages has been Lingala. It first developed
out of a
trade language based on the Bangi tongue that was used on
the lower
Congo River between the Ubangi and Kasai tributaries in
the late
nineteenth century. Early European recruitment of soldiers
from
upriver regions necessitated selection of a language of
command and
of communication. Lingala was considered suitable, and its
adoption
by the military resulted in its spread wherever soldiers
or
veterans went. In addition, Lingala established itself
early as the
language of the capital. As with Kiswahili in the
copper-belt
towns, even the influx of large numbers of same
mother-tongue
immigrants, in this case of Kikongo-speakers (particularly
in the
post-World War II period), failed to displace Lingala.
The postindependence expansion of Lingala can be
attributed to
several additional factors. One is the enormous popularity
of
Zairian popular music, whose lyrics are mostly in Lingala.
Lingala
songs can be heard playing from radios in even the most
remote
villages throughout Zaire. Zairian music has reached an
extremely
wide area throughout sub-Saharan Africa and has
established itself
as one of the continent's most prestigious musical
traditions.
Another reason for Lingala's extensive penetration is its
use by
truck drivers and traders along most of the roads,
railroads, and
waterways in the country. On major routes, even through
the heart
of Kiswahili-speaking northeastern Zaire, travelers may
use Lingala
to order food and lodgings in small African restaurants
and inns.
In some cities, Lingala's expansion has been
quantified.
Kisangani, for example, which is in Haut-Zaïre, sitting
astride the
east-west dividing line between Lingala- and
Kiswahili-speaking
areas and long harboring both Lingala- and
Kiswahili-speaking
communities, has seen two communities shift from
Kiswahili-speaking
majority to Lingala-speaking majority since independence.
More
significant is the fact that Lingala in Lingala-speaking
areas has
become, as has Kiswahili in Kiswahili-speaking areas, the
first
language of the children of urban interethnic marriages.
This
development has occurred despite the fact that neither
language was
ever the first language of any historical
prenineteenth-century
Zairian community.
A map showing the distribution of major languages is
only
marginally useful, however, as a guide to which languages
are
spoken where. Even where one ethnic group predominates,
multilingualism may be common. An individual Zairian may
speak
French in the workplace, a regional trade language such as
Lingala
in marketplace conversation, and the mother tongue of his
or her
ethnic group in the home or with other members of the
ethnic group.
Choice of language may be a vehicle for establishing a
particular relationship or even for making a political
statement.
A police officer or other low-level government official
may begin
a request for a favor (say a ride on a commercial truck)
in French,
switching quickly to the more comfortable Kiswahili or
Lingala once
the "official" tone implied by the use of French has been
set. And
on a larger scale, President Mobutu's deliberate use of
Lingala in
his public addresses, even speaking to Kiswahili-speaking
crowds in
Bukavu and elsewhere, has given political expression to
his
reported rejection of Kiswahili as an acceptable
Zaire-wide trade
language because of its association with Arab slavers.
Lingala is,
in fact, the only African language Mobutu uses in public.
Data as of December 1993
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