Ilunga

Ilunga is a relatively common personal name in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In June 2004, "ilunga" was reported as being a Bantu word meaning "a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time", and - in the opinion of 1,000 linguists surveyed on the subject - the world's most difficult word to translate.

Ilunga as a family name

Ilunga is a family name placed before the given name. There are many famous African and African-descended people named Ilunga. For example:

• Kalala Ilunga, legendary founder of the Luba ethnic group of Democratic Republic of Congo
• Bendele Ilunga, boxer, Belgium
• Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, basketball, Congo, joined Dallas Mavericks in July 2004
• Dorah Ilunga Kabulu, politician, Belgium
• Enock Ilunga, painter, Zambia
• Hérita Ilunga, footballer, Democratic Republic of Congo
• Ferousi Ilunga, boxer, Congo
• Ilunga A. Kalonzo Ilunga, politician, Congo
• Ilunga Katele, traditional culture hero, royal ancestor of the Chokwe people
• Martin-Léonard Bakole wa Ilunga (deceased), Catholic archbishop, Congo
• Masengo Ilunga, former footballer of Ethnikos Piraeus born in Zaire.
• Gen. Ilunga Shamanga (deceased), Congo, Army General, last interior minister of Mobutu's regime, and later prominent member of the Congolese Rally for Democracy rebel group.
• Ilunga Mwepu
• Kasongo Ilunga Congolese politician

Tshiluba is a language spoken in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

See also

• Words hardest to translate

References

• MacIntyre, Ben. Why do Koreans say "a biscuit would be nice" instead of "I want a biscuit"?, The Times, August 21, 2004.