Ngbandi, Northern

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A language of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Alternate Names

Baza, Mongwandi, Ngbandi du Nord, Ngwandi

Ngbandi

User Population

250,000 in Democratic Republic of the Congo (2000 SIL). 75,000 monolinguals. Total users in all countries: 250,290.

Bas-Uele province: Bondo territory; Nord-Ubangi province: Businga, Mobayi-Mbongo, and Yakoma territories.

Language Maps

Northern Democratic Republic of Congo

Language Status

5* (Developing).

Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, North, Adamawa-Ubangi, Ubangi, Ngbandi

2 dialects, about equal in size. Sango [sag] is derived from Ngbandi.

Vigorous. Some speakers of other languages use it for trade in border areas. All domains. Oral use in some churches. Oral literature. Positive attitudes. Most also use Lingala [lin]. Used as L2 by Bolondo [bzm], Pagibete [pae], Yango [yng].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 8%. 20,000 read; 5,000 can write. NT: 1988.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Ngbandi, Northern

Latin script [Latn].

Ethnic groups: Abasango, Bwato, Mbaati, and Nzomboy (Monjomboli). Christian.