Kintu
Kintu is a Universal Language, a region auxiliary language for the Bantusphere, in southern Africa.
| Kintu [ki.ntu] | |
| Timeline/Universe | Universal Languages |
| Period | Future Utopia |
| Spoken in | Bantusphere |
| Total speakers | 450 million |
| Writing system | Ditema tsa Dinoko |
| Classification | Proto-Bantu |
| Typology | |
| Basic word order | SVO |
| Morphology | Agglutinative |
| Alignment | N-A |
| Credits | |
| Created by | User:Aquatiki |
Anthropology
While Swahili has, in many ways, united northeastern Africa, a true pan-Bantu language is yet needed. Approximately 450 million people would be connected by this language, called Kintu. This includes the languages of Swahili, Shona, Zulu, Xhosa, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Lingala, Gikuyu, Nyanja, Tshiluba, and many more.
Pre-nasalized stops Eight noun classes Seven vowels Five tenses and three aspects Agglutinative morphology Heavily prefixing Two tones (hence only one marked) We propose a new script, Ditema tsa Dinoko, which has yet to be adopted by Unicode.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Post. | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Plain Obstruent |
voiced | b | d | dʒ | g | |
| unvoiced | p | t | tʃ | k | (ʔ) | |
| Prenasalized | voiced | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑɡ | |
| Fricative | voiced | v | z (ð) | |||
| unvoiced | f | s | (ts) | ʃ | h | |
| Approximant | r l | j | w | |||
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i | u |
| High-Mid | e | o |
| Low-Mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Low | a | |
low tone (unmarked) and high (´)
Morphology
Noun Classes
| # | Name | Sound | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singular Human | m(u)- | muntu "person" | |
| 2 | Plural Human | ba- | bantu "people" | |
| 3 | Singular Plant | mu- | muse "tree" | |
| 4 | Plural Plant | mi- | mise "trees" | |
| 7 | Singular Object | ki- | kitu "thing" | Assimilated old class 5 too |
| 8 | Plural Object | bi- | bitu "things" | Assimiliated old class 6 too |
| 9 | Animal Singular | n(i)- | nyama "animal" | |
| 10 | Animal Plural | ni- | niyama "animals" | |
| 14 | Abstract/Collective | bu- | bulo mi "life" | Assimilated old class 11 |
| 15 | Infinitives | ku- | kulonda "to follow" | |
| 17 | Locatives | ku- | kunzila "on the road" | Assimilated old 16 and 18 |
Old Proto-Bantu classes 12 and 13 (diminutives and ...) differ too much across the region to keep. Classes over 17 are disputed.
Verbs
| Tense | Marker | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present | Ø | londa = follows/is following |
| Past (Recent) | na- | nalonda = just followed |
| Past (Remote) | ka- | kalonda = followed (long ago) |
| Future (Near) | ta- | talonda = will soon follow |
| Future (Remote) | ko- | kolonda = will follow (distant future) |
Aspect
- Perfective (completed) || me-
- Progressive (Ongoing Action): ki- → kilonda = is following
- Habitual/Repeated Action: sa- → salonda = follows habitually
- Negative Marker: te (suffix) → londa-te = does not follow
- Subjunctive/Imperative: tu- → tulonda = let (someone) follow
Lexicography
| Universal Languages | ||
|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | SEDES (Horn of Africa), Middle Semitic (Semitic languages), Kintu (Bantu languages), Guosa (West Africa) | 
|
| CENTRAL ASIA | Jalpi (Turkic languages), Zens (Iranian languages), Dravindian (Dravidian languages), Neo-Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan languages) | |
| EUROPE | Interlingua (Romance languages), Folksprak (Germanic languages), Interslavic Slavic languages, Balkan (Balkans) | |
| FAR EAST | Dan'a'yo (CJKV), MSEAL (Mainland Southeast Asia), Indo-Malay (Maritime Southeast Asia) | |
