Kirundi language

Rundi
Ikirundi
Native to	Burundi
Ethnicity	Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa
Native speakers	8.8 million (2007)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Great Lakes Bantu Rwanda-Rundi (D62) Rundi
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Burundi
Language codes
ISO 639-1	rn Rundi
ISO 639-2	run Rundi
ISO 639-3	Rundi
Glottolog	rund1242  Rundi rund1241  Rundi-Kitwa
Guthrie code	JD.62
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Kirundi, also known as Rundi, is a Bantu language spoken by 9 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in Uganda. It is the official language of Burundi. Kirundi is mutually intelligible with Kinyarwanda, an official language of Rwanda, and the two form part of the wider dialect continuum known as Rwanda-Rundi.

The inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi belong to several different ethnic groups: Hutu, including Bakiga and other related ethnicities (84%), Tutsi, including Hima (15%) and Twa (1%) (a pygmy people). Kirundi is natively spoken by the Hutu, although the other ethnic groups present in the country such as Tutsi, Twa and Hima among others have adopted the language. Neighbouring dialects of Kirundi are mutually intelligible with Ha, a language spoken in western Tanzania.

Kirundi is frequently cited as a language where Meeussen's rule, a rule describing a certain pattern of tonal change in Bantu languages, is active.

Although the literature on Rundi agrees on 5 vowels, the number of consonants can vary anywhere from 19 to 26 consonants. The table below is compiled from a survey of academic acceptance of Rundi consonants.

The table below gives the vowel sounds of Rundi.

All five vowels occur in long and short forms. The distinction is phonemic.