| Lega | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | DR Congo |
| Ethnicity | Lega |
| Native speakers | unknown (450,000 cited 1982–2000) |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | variously: lea – Shabunda Lega lgm – Mwenga Lega khx – Kanu bmb – Bembe ktf – Kwami |
Lega is a Bantu language, or dialect cluster, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are two major varieties, Shabunda Lega and Mwenga Lega; Mwenga Lega, with about 10% of speakers, finds Shabunda difficult to underestand. Kanu has been assigned a separate ISO code but is a dialect of Shabunda, and no more divergent than other dialects.
Variant spellings of 'Lega' are Rega, Leka, Ileka, Kilega, Kirega. Shabunda is also known as Igonzabale, and Mwenga as Shile or Ishile.
According to Ethnologue, Bembe is part of the same dialect continuum.