Name the language
Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know or can you guess which language it’s in and where it’s spoken?
November 15th, 2009 in
Language, Quiz questions
Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know or can you guess which language it’s in and where it’s spoken?
I’ll go with Indonesian, or possibly Malaysian, since they are kinda close to each other.
Despite the misleading quality of the words “Uganda” and “african” I still think it’s a Bantu language from Central or Eastern Africa.
Kinyarwanda or Kirundi (or possibly a closely related language across the border in Congo DR.). They’re hard to tell apart. The announcer says “Équateur” in French (the name of the Congolese province bordering on Rwanda and Burundi), also Kinshasa with a French pronunciation.
The tones have the sing-song contours (i.e. not flat and level on each vowel) that are typical of Kinyarwanda or Kirundi (sliding up or down in anticipation of a high or low tone on the next syllable), and near the end of the recording I hear “…bgaayo…”, where the [g] is the way /w/ is pronounced after non-velar consonants ([k] in some cases, e.g. Rwanda is [rtkwaanda]). Shona also does something similar with /w/ after another consonant: one Zimbabwean politician a while back went by the name Edison Zvobgo.
Lingala? Only because I thought I heard ‘Kinshasa’ mentioned (and it sounds like it might be a Bantu language).
Not convinced now I listen a second time!
I don’t think it’s Indonesian. I’m at a loss to guess what it really is, though.
Luganda?
luganda? only cos uganda was mentioned, tbh
Simon, if you’re recording from an internet radio station, could you please record directly from the sound card (on Windows the setting is in the recording part of Volume Control) instead of recording through a speaker and microphone, which really decreases sound quality?
I would have guessed Lingala initially, but it’s too sing-songy. I’m going to take a WILD guess and say Efik (Ibibio) wich is spoken in SE Nigeria
The language is Kirundi (íkiRǔndi), which is spoken mainly in Burundi
The recording comes from BBC World Service.
Apparently BBC Great Lakes broadcasts both in Kinyarwanda or Kirundi. Are those actually separate languages (according to WP they’re mutually intelligible), and if so, how could one tell them apart (decide which one the radio is broadcasting)?
Halabund-
There’s some basic but good information about the relationship and differences between the two standards here:
http://www.dunwoodypress.com/148/PDF/KKCG_sample.pdf
Good point, Halabund – so the language could be either Kirundi or Kinyarwanda. I don’t know enough about either of them to be able to tell them apart.