Being Colonized: The Kuba Experience in Rural Congo, 1880–1960

A Note on Spelling and Pronunciation

xi A N  S  P Spelling Bushong words are cited in simplified spelling without tones, without any distinctions between vowels of the second and third degree. Long vowels are indicated only when absolutely necessary; they are omitted whenever vowel length can be inferred from the context of the consonant clusters in the word: hence, for instance, Bushong and not Bushoong, Ibanc and not Ibaanc. Outside the Kuba kingdom (the Territory of Mweka) place-names are spelled by their official colonial names. Within the kingdom most place-names are spelled according to the usage in my book The Children of Woot (Madison 1978). Hence we write Nsheng rather than Mushenge for the Kuba capital, and Ibanc instead of Ibanshe for the well-known town. But we keep the official spelling Domiongo rather than Ndoomiyoong for the town on the rail line inhabited by many non-Bushong. Several spoken variants of the most common Bushong and Kete personal names occur. In such cases we have chosen to write the most commonly used form of the name: thus Mbop (class 1), rather than Bop (class 1a), Mbo (a common abbreviation), or Mbopey (an error). In another very common name, Kwet, the vowel varies according to dialect. We also render it as Kwet rather than Kot. In this work all Bushong or Tshiluba texts are cited in translation, and all translations are the author’s unless otherwise specified. Even then the author has checked all translations against the originals. Pronunciation In Bushong the consonants are pronounced as in English except for c and p. C stands for ch as in church: hence read cak as chak. P is a consonant unknown in European languages. It is the sound produced when blowing out a candle, not quite like either f or h: hence read Mbop as Mbof or Mboh. In Bushong spelling long vowels are distinguished from short vowels by doubling the vowel letter. In this book vowel length is only marked in cases where confusion could otherwise arise. Length does not change the vowel sound in any way other than the time during which the sound is held. Whether long or short, vowels are pronounced as follows: A always as a in hat: thus ngady is pronounced ngady and baat is baat. E stands for two different sounds: sometimes for ai as in pain, sometimes for e as in bread or mesh. Thus ngesh is pronounced as ngaish and ncyeem as nchaim; but Kwet is read as Kwet and Mbweky as Mbweky. I is always pronounced as i as in pin: thus nyim is read as nyim and kiin as keen. O stands for two different sounds: sometimes for oa as in boat, sometimes for o as in top. Thus iyol is pronounced as iyoal and Woot as Woat, but Lakosh is pronounced as Lakosh and ngwoom as ngwom (never ngwoum). U is always pronounced like oo or ou in boot or would: thus kum is pronounced as koom/koum and ntuum as ntoom/ntoum. Changing Place-names Place-names outside of the Kuba realm are written in the spelling that appears on official administrative maps of Belgian Congo. Places inside the Kuba region are named and spelled in the language spoken by their inhabitants. Hence it is the Bushong name Nsheng (not the Tshiluba Mushenge ) or the Kete BwaaNzeebwa (not the Tshiluba Bakwa Nzebwa nor the Bushong Baancep nor Baancap). In the cases of the following mixed settlements the official names and spellings are preserved: Domiongo, Kakenge, Mweka, Port Francqui. Congolese acquired new names after independence. The most relevant ones for this book are the following: Former Current Elisabethville Lubumbashi Jadotville Likasi Léopoldville (Lipopo) Kinshasa Luluabourg Kananga Port Francqui Ilebo (also called Ilebo before 1923) Stanleyville Kisangani xii Note on Spelling and Pronunciation Bantu Prefixes In Bushong as in many Bantu languages high pitch on any syllable in the stem of a word helps to determine its meaning. Despite this, pitch is not marked in this book. All nouns in most Bantu languages, including Bushong, begin with prefixes, most of which change from singular to plural and can trigger other changes (e.g., mwaan, singular: “child”; baan, plural: “children”). Following a general convention, in this work all prefixes of simple nouns designating ethnic names or names of languages are dropped. Hence Kete and not Mukete “a Kete person”; Bakete “several Kete persons ”; or Tshikete “the language of the Kete.” One...