Chokwe/Ruund language page

Classification and where spoken

Chokwe (also spelled Cokwe) and Ruund are two distinct Bantu languages belonging to the Chokwe- Luchazi Group (Guthrie K10) and the Lunda Group (Guthrie L50) respectively. Hoover reports that "Ruund (uRuund) is spoken in Zaire (Shaba, Kasai, and Bandundu regions) and Angola," where it is known as "Lundu" or sometimes as "Lunda of Mwant Yav" to distinguish it from (chi)Ndembu, a quite distinct language spoken in Zaire and Zambia, where it is also known as "Lunda." In addition there is a third group speaking a dialect of Bemba also referred to as "Lunda." The extensive use of the term "Lunda" reflects the earlier incorporation of these groups into the multiethnic Lunda state. Nash (personal communication, 1985) reports that "to avoid confusion, the term `Lunda' is now generally used to refer to all those connected in some way to the greater political/cultural state and `Ruund' to those with very close cultural, ethnic and linguistic ties to the Lunda capital area in western Shaba province, Zaire."

Number of speakers

  Chokwe Ruund Ndembu
Zambia
Zaire
Angola 		150,000 350,000 100,000
UBS (1991) 1,004,000 238,000  
While UBS (1982) notes 170,000 "Lunda" [Ruund] speakers and 500,000 Chokwe speakers, Hoover suggests this figure is too low for first-language speakers and fails to consider the use of both languages as a lingua franca. UBS (1991; cited in Grimes 1996) gives much higher figures (see above).

Usage

Nash (personal communication, 1985) reports that, because of its recent expansion, Chokwe shows little dialect variation, and that while there is considerable dialect variation in Ruund, they are mutually intelligible. However, no formal dialect surveys are known to us as of this writing. UNESCO/UNDP is sponsoring a project to prepare literacy and other types of materials in Chokwe.

Orthographic status

As far as can be determined, no official orthography has been established for either language. However, the orthography used by Lerback has been adopted by the missions in Shaba Province with slight modifications and is the standard there. A Ruund newspaper was published in the early 1960s in connection with a mass adult literacy project. The orthography developed by MacJannet is used by missions in both Zaire and Angola.

Sets of learning materials

Nash (personal communication, 1982) feels that one set of materials would be sufficient for Lunda. UDP is preparing one set of Chokwe materials.