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Kirundi alphabet
The 26 letters CLDR lists for Kirundi, in order. L, q and x appear only in foreign names and loanwords (Kirundi has r where other Bantu languages have l). C is the ch of church (cane, very), and sounds like sh, ny, bw and rw are written with two letters. Everyday spelling marks neither tone nor vowel length, so there are no accents.
Apostrophe
Marks a dropped vowel where two words join: n'amahoro, Ijambo ry'Imana. Curly or straight, both are used.
Quotation marks
Print in Burundi often follows French and uses « » guillemets; online writing and English-style keyboards give “ ” and ‘ ’. The closing single quote is the same character as the curly apostrophe above.
Where it's spoken
Burundi, where nearly everyone speaks Kirundi. The Burundian franc (BIF) has no Unicode sign; prices are written 5 000 FBu.
From Burundi
The royal drums (ingoma), cattle (inka, as in the good wish Gira inka), coffee from the hills, beans for every day, and the dove for amahoro, peace, the word Burundians greet each other with.
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The Kirundi alphabet: Ikirundi in plain Latin letters
Kirundi is the Bantu language of Burundi. The prefixes tell you who is who: the country is Uburundi, one person is an Umurundi, the people are the Abarundi, and the language is Ikirundi. English sources also call it Rundi, which is where its ISO code rn comes from, but Kirundi is the name people use and search for.
It is written in the Latin alphabet, and Unicode's CLDR lists all 26 letters from a to z as its exemplar set. A few of them stay on the edge: l, q and x appear only in foreign names and borrowed words, because Kirundi has r where many related languages have l. Some sounds are written with letter combinations rather than special characters: c is the ch of church, as in cane, very; sh is the English sh; ny is the ny of canyon, the same sound as Spanish ñ; and clusters such as bw, rw and mw are common, as in Bwakeye, good morning.
Kirundi is a tonal language and also tells short vowels from long ones, but everyday spelling marks neither. Dictionaries and linguistic studies add tone marks, yet newspapers, the Bible, school books and text messages are all written without accents, so there is nothing beyond A to Z to hunt for.
The apostrophe in Kirundi: n'amahoro, ry'Imana
The one punctuation mark Kirundi spelling really needs beyond A to Z is the apostrophe. When certain short words and particles ending in vowels precede a vowel-initial word, the final vowel may elide and be marked with an apostrophe: na amahoro, and peace, is written n'amahoro, and Ijambo rya Imana, the word of God, becomes Ijambo ry'Imana. The same pattern runs through y', z', w' and the other linking words, from church readings to SMS.
Either the straight apostrophe ' or the typographic one ’ is fine; phones usually insert ’ automatically, while forms and older software keep '. For quotations, print in Burundi often follows French and uses guillemets « », while posts and messages typed on English-style keyboards use “ ” and ‘ ’.
How to type Kirundi on a keyboard or phone
Kirundi needs no special keyboard: a standard English or French layout on a computer, iPhone or Android types every letter. The only characters worth reaching for are the quotation marks and the curly apostrophe. On Windows, hold Alt and type on the number pad 0171 for «, 0187 for », 0147 for “, 0148 for ” and 0146 for ’. On a Mac, Option\ gives «, OptionShift\ gives », Option[ gives “, OptionShift[ gives ” and OptionShift] gives ’.
In HTML, write «, », “, ” and ’. On a phone, long-press the quote key to see « » and the curly forms; the apostrophe key already gives what Kirundi needs.
Where Kirundi is spoken: Burundi
Kirundi is the language of Burundi , and it is unusual in Africa in that nearly the whole country shares it as a first language. Ethnologue estimated about 13 million native speakers in 2021. It is Burundi's national language and an official one, next to French and English; French remains common in government and the press, while Kirundi is the language of home, church, radio and the market. Burundian communities in Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo speak it too.
Kirundi is so close to Kinyarwanda, the language of neighbouring Rwanda , that speakers understand each other, and linguists group the two as Rwanda-Rundi. The spelling shows the small differences: very is cane in Kirundi but cyane in Kinyarwanda, and yes is ego rather than yego. Prices are written in Burundian francs, which have no Unicode sign of their own: people write 5 000 FBu or BIF 5,000. The Kinyarwanda collection covers Kirundi's closest relative, the Burundi collection has the country's emoji, and the French and Swahili collections cover the other languages heard in Bujumbura.
Kirundi words and greetings to copy
The everyday Kirundi greeting is Amahoro, peace, which works as hello at any time of day. In the morning people say Bwakeye, literally "it has dawned", and later Mwiriwe, good afternoon or good evening. To ask how things are, say Amakuru?, "news?", and the answer is Ni meza, it's good. Thank you is Urakoze to one person and Murakoze to several or politely, and Murakoze cane is thank you very much. I love you is Ndagukunda.
Every one of these is typed with plain letters, which is why people searching for Kirundi words in English mostly need meanings rather than characters. The ones below are ready to paste with an emoji; the apostrophe words like n'amahoro are the place to take care.
How to use them
5 situationsKlik for at kopiereKirundi Alphabet combos
13Godt at vide
- Burundi is one of the few African countries where almost the whole population speaks the same first language, Kirundi.
- Kirundi and Kinyarwanda are mutually intelligible; the spelling shows the difference in words like cane and cyane, very.
- One root, four words: Uburundi is the country, Umurundi one Burundian, Abarundi the people and Ikirundi the language.
- Burundi's national anthem, Burundi Bwacu (Our Burundi), is sung in Kirundi and dates from independence in 1962.
- The national motto in Kirundi, Ubumwe, Ibikorwa, Amajambere (unity, work, progress), is what the three stars on the flag stand for.
Ofte stillede spørgsmål
7What is the Kirundi alphabet?
The Latin alphabet a to z with no accented letters. L, q and x are used only in foreign names and loanwords, c is pronounced like ch, and sounds like sh and ny are written with two letters. Everyday spelling marks neither tone nor vowel length.
Is Rundi the same as Kirundi?
Yes. Rundi is the English name for Kirundi (Ikirundi), the language of Burundi; its ISO code is rn.
Where is Kirundi spoken? Which country?
Burundi, where nearly everyone speaks it and it is the national language. Burundian communities in Tanzania, Rwanda and DR Congo use it too. Ethnologue estimated about 13 million native speakers in 2021.
How do you say hello in Kirundi?
Amahoro, which means peace, works at any time of day. In the morning you can say Bwakeye, and in the afternoon or evening Mwiriwe.
How to say thank you in Kirundi?
Murakoze (Urakoze to one person). For thank you very much, say Murakoze cane.
How to say I love you in Kirundi?
Ndagukunda.
What is the difference between Kirundi and Kinyarwanda?
They are two very close forms of one language group, Rwanda-Rundi, and speakers understand each other. Differences show in vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling: Kirundi writes cane and ego where Kinyarwanda writes cyane and yego.
