| Kaonde | |
|---|---|
| Chikahonde | |
| Spoken in | Zambia Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Native speakers | 243,000[1] (date missing) |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kqn |
Kaonde, also known as Chikaonde and Kawonde, is a Bantu language (of the larger Niger–Congo family) that is spoken primarily in Zambia but also in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kaonde and its dialects are spoken and understood by perhaps 350,000 people or more. It is estimated that approximately 3% of Zambians are native Kaonde speakers. Kaonde speakers overwhelmingly live in the northwestern part of Zambia.
Fewer numbers of Kaonde speakers live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Strictly speaking, the term "Kaonde" refers to a tribal group who obtained its name from a stream called Kaonde in river Congo basin. Kaondes themselves call their language "Kikaonde." Other Bantu languages use different modifiers than "ki," such as "chi," or "ici," when denoting a language spoken by a group. Thus Kikaonde is indeed called Chikaonde at times – but generally not by the Kaondes themselves.
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