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Etude linguistique chez les Baráshi/Banyaambo du Rwanda


JC Nkejabahizi

Abstract

Among the main African Languages spoken in Rwanda besides Kinyarwaanda: amashí in the South, olucigá in the North and ikiráshi/ikinyaambo in the East, only olucigá has been particularly described: J.-B. Murekezi (1984), F.-X. Bangamwabo (1989); others are just mentioned in global sociolinguistic studies: B. Ngulinzira (1981), L. Munyakazi (1984); and figure on Rwandan linguistic maps.
Other studies were about dialects: G. Mudenge (1985), E. Nsanzabiga (1984/85), J. Mukeshimana (1993), J.-C. Nkejabahizi (2007). Languages and regional ways of speaking of the East part of Rwanda seem to have been neglected by researchers and linguists. For example, if you want to know what do ikiráshi and /or ikinyaambo spoken in Rwanda looks
like, who are the speakers of those languages, how many they are, where they are coming from, what is common to those ways of speaking and the kinyarwaanda lanuage? Baráshi and Banyaambo are they two tribes which are really different or they constitute a unique community which share the same culture, the same language, etc? All those questions have never been dealt with.
These questions which remained outstanding until now pushed us to be interested with the linguistic and sociolinguistic aspect of this studied region.

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print ISSN: 2305-2678