kimbundu.org
How Kimbundu is spelled on this site
Kimbundu has been written down for centuries, but its official spelling was only standardised in 1987. Before that, every writer made their own choices, usually adapting Portuguese conventions to a language with very different sounds. This site uses the modern standard for headwords and page addresses. It also preserves the original spelling of its 1940s source dictionary. This page explains both systems and the rules that connect them.
The official standard
Angola's Instituto de Línguas Nacionais (ILN) standardised Kimbundu spelling. The Conselho de Ministros approved it in Resolução n.º 3/87 on 23 May 1987. A further regional harmonisation followed in 2012. The result is a phonemic alphabet: one letter or fixed digraph for each sound.
Its main features: /k/ is always written k. The palatal nasal is ny, not the Portuguese nh. The glides are distinct letters: y and w. The letter x represents /ʃ/ and j represents /ʒ/. Prenasalised consonants (mb, nd, ng, nj, mv, nz) are counted as single sounds. Every native word ends in a vowel.
Our source, and why spellings differ
The dictionary behind this archive was written in the 1940s, decades before the official standard existed. Its author used a Portuguese-influenced orthography. Most differences are systematic: the same sound was simply written another way.
We use the modern spelling as the canonical form. It appears in headwords, page addresses, and links. This means the archive uses the same spelling as Angolan classrooms and official publications today.
We preserve the historical spelling as a faithful record of our source. It also lets you read older Kimbundu texts in their original spelling. The search accepts both forms. Type nyoka or nhoka and you will find the same word.
Correspondence at a glance
| Sound | 1940s source | Modern (ILN) | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palatal nasal /ɲ/ | nh | ny | Mbúnha → Mbúnya |
| Glide /j/ | i + vowel | y | Aiaki → Ayaki |
| Glide /w/ | u + vowel | w | Akua → Akwa |
| /k/ | k | k | Kalúnga |
| /ʃ/ (sh) | x | x | Muxima |
| /ʒ/ | j | j | Njila |
| Prenasalised | mb nd ng nj mv nz | unchanged | Nzambi, Mbiji |
| Word endings | always a vowel | always a vowel | no native word ends in a consonant |
Search works for you
The search engine handles spelling differences for you. It accepts c and qu where the modern standard uses k, and nh where it uses ny. You do not need to know the rules to find the word you want.
About the accent marks
Accent marks in our entries (such as Kalúnga and Mbúnya) come from the source dictionary. They mark tone, which is phonemic in Kimbundu. The modern standard does not systematically write tone, so these marks are not always present in other Kimbundu materials.
What is still being worked on
We have applied nh → ny across the whole dictionary. Glide re-spelling (y and w) is being rolled out in editorial passes.
Aspirated and lenited consonants (ph, th, bh) need word-by-word phonological checking. We apply these changes conservatively.
Tone is real in Kimbundu, but the standard does not mark it systematically in writing. Our accent marks follow the source dictionary.
Historical texts we publish keep their original spelling. The 1894 folk-tales, for example, will have a normalised layer added over time.