Kirundi, spoken primarily in Burundi, is a Bantu language within the Niger-Congo language family. It is closely related to several other languages in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Kirundi are Kinyarwanda, Nyankole, Luganda, Bemba, and Swahili.
- Kinyarwanda (93.5)
Kinyarwanda, the national language of Rwanda, is Kirundi’s closest linguistic sibling. Both languages belong to the same dialect continuum and are mutually intelligible to a large extent. Words in Kirundi and Kinyarwanda often have identical or near-identical meanings. For instance, the word “amahoro” means “peace” in both languages. - Nyankole (67.9)
Spoken in southwestern Uganda, Nyankole is part of the Bantu language family and shares many features with Kirundi. Basic words, especially for daily use, are often similar. In addition, sentence structures, such as subject-verb-object order, are comparable. For example, “omuntu” (person) in Nyankole resembles “umuntu” in Kirundi. - Luganda (56.2)
Luganda is another language widely spoken in Uganda on this list that shares notable linguistic traits with Kirundi. In fact, many words have common Bantu roots. The use of prefixes and agreement systems for verbs and adjectives is similar. - Bemba (55.8)
Bemba is spoken in Zambia and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and while geographically farther from Kirundi, it retains similarities. As Bantu languages, both have incorporated terms from Swahili and neighboring languages, creating overlaps. - Swahili (54.6)
Swahili is a widely spoken lingua franca in East Africa, including Burundi, and has influenced Kirundi in various ways. Swahili has contributed numerous words to Kirundi, especially in trade, religion, and modern contexts. For instance, “meza” (table) and “kitabu” (book) are shared.
(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people)