The basics
Here you understand how the language works. Nothing to recite, no marks: a few keys that make everything else simpler.
Good news: Lingala is written the way it is spoken. Each letter always keeps the same sound. Learn these sounds once and you can read everything else.
The 7 vowels
Two letters are new: ɛ sounds like an open e, ɔ like an open o. Listen, then repeat out loud.
The consonant pairs
mb, nd, ng… are said in one breath: the m or n is light, almost glued to the consonant that follows.
The tones
Lingala is a tonal language: on each syllable the voice rises or stays low, and that melody can change the meaning of a word. The acute accent (ó) marks a high tone; no accent means a low tone. Look: same letters, two melodies, two meanings.
In everyday writing (and in our dictionary), tones are almost never written: context does the work. Our recorded voice doesn’t sing them either: your ear catches them by listening to Congolese speakers, songs and radio. And don’t worry: people will understand you even without them.
A Lingala word is often a small prefix attached to a root. In the plural, only the prefix changes. Spot these families and you will guess dozens of words.
people
many things and ideas
a whole family of nouns
often things
a few very common nouns
Words that came from elsewhere (buku, radio…) simply take ba- in the plural: babuku, baradio.
In Lingala, the person doing the action attaches to the front of the verb. No separate word for I or you: one syllable is enough.
One syllable per person
The verb kolinga (to love): remove ko-, keep the root -linga, and add the person in front.
The pronoun word: me, you, him…
The prefix is usually enough: nalingi already means I love. The full word, ngai, is mostly for emphasis: ngai nalingi, me, I love.
Saying when it happens
With the verb koloba (to speak):
Three handy little bricks
te
nalingi te
the no: te goes at the end of the sentence. Nalingi te = I don’t want.
ya
ndako ya mama
the belonging link: ndako ya mama = mum’s house.
na
mama na tata
the and (or with): mama na tata = mum and dad.
Once the basic sentence is in hand, two very useful tools: asking a question, and saying whose something is.
Asking a question
The question word often goes where the answer would go, usually at the end of the sentence.
Whose is it? my, your, his
In Kinshasa, na is the everyday word: mama na ngai, my mother. In writing you also meet ya: ndako ya ngai. Both are said.
You have the keys. Your turn!
Now that you understand how the language works, feed your vocabulary and practise. Ten words a day, heard and repeated out loud, work wonders.
Open the dictionary