Kongo language
- noun
- The Kongo language has several dialects spoken throughout Central Africa.
Examples
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Many people in Angola speak the Kongo language.
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The Kongo language is rich in proverbs.
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He studied the Kongo language for his research on Bantu linguistics.
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She is fluent in both French and Kongo language.
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He studied the Kongo language for his research on Bantu linguistics.
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She is fluent in both French and Kongo language.
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The Kongo language has several dialects spoken throughout Central Africa.
Synonyms
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A language spoken by the Kongo people in central Africa
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A language spoken in parts of Central Africa, especially in the Congo region
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning ‘the Bantu language spoken by the Kongo people’ is directly and transparently composed from 'Kongo' (the name/people or their language) + 'language' (a spoken/written system). This is a standard attributive noun construction (X language = the language of X) found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Kongo language comes from the Kongo people and their old kingdom along the Congo River in Central Africa. People first used 'Kongo' to name the people and then their way of speaking, so Kongo language now means the language the Kongo people speak.