Umbundu

Umbundu
Mbundu Úmbúndú
Native to	Angola
Native speakers	6 million  (2012)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone R) Umbundu
Language codes
ISO 639-2	umb
ISO 639-3	umb
Guthrie code	R.11

Umbundu, or South Mbundu (autonym úmbúndú), one of two Bantu languages of Angola called Mbundu (see Kimbundu), is the most widely spoken language of Angola. Speakers are known as Ovimbundu, who constitute a third of the Angolan people. Their homeland is the Central Highlands of Angola and the coastal region west of these highlands, including the cities of Benguela and Lobito. Because of recent internal migration there are now also large communities in Luanda and its surrounding province, as well as in Lubango.

Further reading

• Schadeberg, Thilo C. (1982) 'Nasalization in Umbundu', Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 4, 2, 109–132.
• Gladwyn M. Childs 'Umbundu Kinship and Character: Being a Description of Social Structure and Individual Development of the Ovimbundu', London: Oxford University Press, 1949. ISBN 0-8357-3227-4.

External links

• Umbundu Lessons
• Dictionary Umbundu – Medical Hospital Nossa Senhora da Paz, Cubal, Angola.