Note :

At the insistent request of some English-speaking visitors, I was forced to translate this lexicon from French to English.  It’s a colossal job that took me a lot of time, I applied myself and tried to do my best. Despite this, since English is not my usual language, there could be some translation errors here and there. If you find any, do not hesitate to report them to me by writing to me through the contact page of this website.

 

Thank you in advance !

 

 

1. CONJUGATION LESSON.

Note: in Lingala the  “u” is pronounced “oo”, the “s” is pronounced “c” and the “g” is pronounced “gg” regardless of the vowel attached to it. In Lingala, the letters “q”, “r”, “x” are unusual.

Example : to eat :

1. The infinitive:

KO-lia

Remark : the “KO” precedes all verbs to infinitive just as well as they end with “a”

2. Le présent:

KO-zala KO-lia which means : “to be eating”

Remark: The present is conjugated in this form because it indicates that the action is taking place.

 

2.1. General form of the present :

– Nazali kolia: I am eating

– Ozali kolia : You are eating

– Azali kolia : He (she) is eating

– Tozali kolia: We are eating

– Bozali kolia: You are eating

– Bazali kolia: They are eating

Remark: le “i” in place of “a” de kozala indicates that the action is taking place (in the present)

2.2. Contracted forms of the present (in common language)

– first form :

Nazo lia

Ozo lia

Azo lia

Tozo lia

Bozo lia

Bazo lia

Remarks:

. zali becomes zo

. the “ko” of kolia disappears

. in the pronunciation, we insist on the “zo” which is pronounced “zoo (zô)”

– second form :

Na kolia

O kolia

A kolia

To kolia

Bo kolia

Ba kolia

Notes:

. the verb kozala (to be or the be in the process of) disappears

. in the pronunciation, emphasis is placed on the subject, example “Na” is pronounced “Naa”; “Bo”… “Boo”, and so on.

 

3. The imperfect tense :

I was eating …

Nazalaki kolia

Ozalaki kolia

Azalaki kolia

Tozalaki kolia

Bozalaki kolia

Bazalaki kolia

Note : The “ki” behind the verb indicates that the action took place in the near past.

Besides the auxiliary “kozala”, one can also use the verb “kobanda” to indicate the the action is taking place  or has started to take place. Example : nabandaki kolia, tobandaki kolia.

4. Perfect tense :

I’ve eaten:

Naliaki

Oliaki

Aliaki

Toliaki

Boliaki

Baliaki

Note : the verb “to be” “kozala” disappears, to indicate the end of the action which was taking place.

5. Preterite (past historic):

5.1. I was eating :

Nazalaka kolia

Ozalaka kolia

Azalaka kolia

Tozalaka kolia

Bozalaka kolia

Bazalaka kolia

Remark : the “ka” behind the verb indicates that the action took place in a distant past.

5.2. I ate, you ate, … :

Naliaka

Oliaka

Aliaka

Toliaka

Boliaka

Baliaka

Note : the form “2.2” in its pronunciation witout accent on “a” of “ka” means a habit. Example: Naliaka na ndako which means : I eat at hom, inother words I usually eat at home.

6. Future tense :

6.1. I will eat, tu …:

Nakolia

Okolia

Akolia

Tokolia

Bokolia

Bakolia

Remark : the writing is the same as for the second contracted form of the present, but the pronunciation differs, i.e., we no longer insist on the subject’s vowel (“na” and not “naa”, “o” and not “oo”. The other fact is the verb keeps its “ko” for the future while the present and the past “ko” is replaced by the subject.

 

6.2. I will be eating :

Nakozala kolia, nakobanda kolia

Okozala kolia, okobanda kolia

Akozala kolia, akobanda kolia

Tokozala kolia, tokobanda kolia

Bokozala kolia, bokobanda kolia

Bakozala kolia, bakobanda kolia

7. Imperative (order):

eat, let’s eat, eat

lia,  tolia,  bolia : no subject for the second person of the singular

For the third person, the negative form of the imperative is summed up by the formula: ko (verb) te, so our example above of the eating verb becomes : kolia te,  tolia te,  bolia te

8. Subjunctive :

General form :

The subjunctive form is usually conjugated by simply replacing the “ko” of the infinitive with the subject. Example: kolia :

Nalia, olia, alia, tolia, bolia, balia

The translation of this is : that I eat, that you eat, that he eats, that we eat, that you eat, that they eat.

The tense of the subjunctive is determined by the tense of the conjugation of the verb that precedes it.

Examples :

olingi nalia : you want me to eat

olingaki nalia : you wanted me to eat

balingaka tobina : they wanted us to dance

9. Other forms:

9.1. The present tense (near past : the action that was taking place is ending, usually it means “I just …”.

Example: kolia

Nalei, olei, alei, tolei, bolei, balei

As a general rule the “a” of the infinitive is transformed into “i” to indicate the present, but the verb kolia is in this case an exception, because the “lia” becomes “lei”. An other example : kolata (to dress) which conjugates : nalati, olati, alati, tolati, bolati, balati.

The form “just” is used in the same way as “to be in the process of” in the general forms of conjugation. As well as “finish to” or “end to”.

Example:

– Kowuta (just …):

Nawuti kolata: I just got dressed

Nawutaki kolata: I just got dressed, I had just dressed

Nawutaka kolata: I just got dressed

– Kosilisa (finish to ou end to)

Nasilisi kolia: I’ve finished eating, I just finished eating

Nasilisaki kolia: I had finished eating

Nasilisaka: I had finished eating

*We can also say : “I have already eaten”. In this case the subject is followed by “si” + sujet

Example: just after the  eating action, to dress in the present tense:

Nasi- nalei; Nasi- nalati

Osi- olei  ; Osi- olati

Asi- alei; Asi- alati

Tosi- tolei; Tosi- tolati

Bosi- bolei; Bosi- bolati

Basi- balei; Basi- balati

*In the  past tense : I had already eaten, I had already dressed

Nasi- naliaki; Nasi- nalataki

Or I had already eaten, I had already dressed

Nasi-naliaka; Nasi-nalataka

We can also say, still in the past: I had already eaten for a long time, in this case, we delete the “ka” and we make it followed by “kala” which means “for a long time” or we make it followed by nothing at all.

Example:

Nasi- nalia kala; Nasi- nalata kala : “kala” to emphasize that it’s been a long time

Nasi- nalia

Nasi- nalata

9.2. Interrogation :

The interrogative form is written in the same way as the normal conjugation, the question lies only in the interrogative intonation:

Example: Kolia

Ozali kolia ? Are you eating ?

Oliaki ? Have you eaten ? Did you eat ?

9.3. Conditional:

Si—–Soki (followed by the conjugated verb) or

“soki (conjugated verb), mbele (conjugated verb)”. The conjugation don’t change.

Example:

Soki oliaki… (if you have eaten)

Soki oliaki mbele O… (if you had eaten you would have “would be”…)

10. Restriction of the verb “kozala”:

10.1. The verb “kozala” as it is used in conjugation means “to be” or “to be in the process of”.

 

10.2. If the verb “kozala” is followed by an adjective or a proper name, it means “to be”.

Example: I am zairian … nazali zaïrois; he was stupid … azalaki zoba.

 

10.3. The verb “kozala” followed by a common name means “to have”, in this case we say: “kozala na”.

Example: we have (got) money … tozali na mbongo (or mosolo = money)

11. The negative forme + “it/that” (pronoun):

Example 1: It’s not me … Ezali ngayi te …

“E” means “it”, “that”, pronoun that replaces the subject. In other respects “e” replaces “a” in the third person of the singular of conjugations when it relates to non-human beings or things (ex: soso ezali kolia … the hen eats, elamba epasuki … the garment has torn, mokolo ekoya … the next day, etc…)

Ngayi = me (in contracted language, we say “nga”)

Te = not, it indicates the negation and stands behind the complement (here ngayi)

Example 2 : It came from Congo or it comes from Congo (usually):…Ewutaka (na) Congo. We are not obliged to put the “na” which here means “from”.

12. Some particular conjugations :

12.1 : The verb koya (to come) :

– the present tense (near past) : I just ( I just arrived)

  (nayei, oyei, ayei, toyei, boyei, bayei)

– Perfect tense (past perfect) : I came

(nayaki, oyaki, ayaki, toyaki, boyaki, bayaki)

– Past historic : I came

  (nayaka, oyaka, ayaka, toyaka, boyaka, bayaka)

– imperative :

  yaka (come), boya (come)

12.2.The verb kokende (to leave, to go away) :

– present tense (near past) : I’m leaving

(nakei, okei, akei, tokei, bokei, bakei)

– perfect tense (past perfect) : I went

(nakendaki, okendaki, akendaki, tokendaki, bokendaki, bakendaki)

– preterite : I left, I went

(nakendaka, okendaka, akendaka, tokendaka, bokendaka, bakendaka)

– imperative :

kende (go away), bokende (go away)

12.3. The verb kolia (to eat): See 1 to 10

 

12.4. The verb kowa (to die)

– present tense (near past): nawei (I die)

13. Verb + na (pronoun) form: insistence on action.

 

13.1. Positive form :

Form “conjugated verb + (na ngayi, na yo, na ye, na biso, na bino, na bango)” :

Example : na kolia ngai (I will surely eat, I accept to eat even out of spite).

This form indicates that one insists on the fact that one agrees to act.

 

13.2. Negative form :

Form “conjugated verb + (na ngayi, na yo, na ye, na biso, na bino, na bango)” te :

Example : to kokende na biso te (we will surely not go, we refuse to leave).

This form indicates that one strongly disagrees to act.

1. PRONOUNS, ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUNCTIONS.

1. Personal pronouns :

Me, I : ngayi

You : yo

He (she): ye

Us : biso

You : bino

They : bango

2. Possessive pronouns:

My (mine) : na(ou ya) ngayi

Your (yours) : na(ou ya) yo

His, her (his, hers): na (ou ya) ye

Our (ours): na (ou ya) biso

Your (yours): na (ou ya) bino

Their (theirs): na (ou ya) bango

3. Adverbs:

– Where : epayi (ou esika); where?: epayi ( ou esika) wapi?

– When : tango; when?: tango nini?, eleko nini?, mokolo nini?

– How : ndenge; how ?: ndenge nini?

– Here : awa, esika awa(esik’awa) , epayi boye

– There, over there : kuna

– Since : banda, wuta…

– Already : si

Examples :

Come here : yaka awa

Sleep over there : lala kuna

When I came here …: tango nayaki …

When did you arrive? : tango nini okomaki? (ou okomaki tango nini?)

Where did you go?: okendeki wapi? (or: esika wapi okendeki? or: epayi wapi okendeki? or: okendeki esika wapi? or: okendeki epayi wapi)

Example  of  conjugation  with  “si” (already) :

Na si naliaki, o si oliaki, a si aliaki, to si toliaki, bo si boliaki, ba si baliaki :

I’ve already eaten, you’ve already eaten, he/she’s already eaten, we’ve already eaten, you’ve already eaten, they’ve already eaten.

Have you eaten yet ?: (o) si oliaki ?

Has he eaten yet ?: (a) si aliaki ?

Have you eaten yet ? : (bo) si boliaki ?

Have they eaten yet ? : (ba) si baliaki ?

If I’ve already eaten : soki na si naliaki

If we’ve already eaten : soki to si toliaki

I’ve already left : na si nakendeki

…

Have you left yet ? : (o) si okendeki ?

…

4. Conjunctions:

 

– kasi : but

– kasi : therefore, thus

– kasi : or

– kasi : nor, neither

– na : and

– poo (po na) : for, because

– too : or

Some examples of pronouns, adverbs, prepositions and derived expressions :

– ata ko…  : even if, although

– ata pe : as well as

– awa : here

– banda : since then

– bango : them

– bango oyo : here they are

– bango wana : there they are, here they are

– baye : those

– baye ba « verbe» : those who “verb”

– bayi : those of, those from

– ba oyo ba”verbe” : those who “verb”

– bino : you

– bipayi binso (epayi nionso) : everywhere

– bisika binso (esika nionso) : everywhere

– biso : we

– biso oyo : here we are

– biye : this, these, here

– bobele : well, surely, only, always

– bongo : so

– boo… : as

– boye : like this, like that

– ebele : many, a lot of

– eloko te : nothing

– elongo : with, together

– ena : there, that

– engebene : according to, following

– epayi boye : here

– epayi  mosusu : elsewhere

– esanga : together, with

– esika wapi : where

– ete : that

– eye : this, these

– ike : several

– inso : all

– kaka : only

– kala : long time

– kamua : almost

– kani : how many, which, what

– ke : that

– kino : until

– kozanga : without

– kuna : there

– kutu : even, by the way

– libela : definitely, forever

– liboso : in front, first

– likolo na : because of

– lisusu : again, still, more

– lokola : like, similarly

– lolenge kani : how? in what way?

– malembe : slowly, gently

– mbala moko : suddenly, all of a sudden

– mbangu : fast, quickly

– mbele : otherwise

– meke : full, abundant

– meyi : self

– mingi : a lot, many

– mobimba : wholly, entirely, fully

– moke (mokie) : little, few, a bit

– mosika : far away

– mosusu : else, other, another

– motako : gratuitously, unnecessarily, for nothing

– mua : about, a little

– na : to,in, into, with

– na mbalakaka : all of a sudden, suddenly

– nani : who

– na nko : intentionally, voluntarily

– nayinu te ! : not yet !

– nde : well (insisting), really, certainly, precisely

– ndenge (ya, na) : as, in the manner (of)

– ndeti (neti) : as if, like, as for

– ndjambi : certainly, for sure, really, in reality

– neti-neti : so-so

– ngayi : me, myself

– ngayi oyo : here I am

– nini : what, which

– nionso : all,the whole

– noki : fast, quickly

– nzela moko : together

– nzoka (nde) : whereas, on the contrary

– nzike : several

– obele : always, constantly, simply, especially

– o eleko : during, at the moment when, at the time when

– ontei : among, in, between, within

– oyo : this, these

– oyo a “verbe” : the one who “verb”

– oyo wapi ? : which one ?

– pamba : useless, unimportant, without anything

– pamba-pamba : unnecessarily

– pamba te : otherwise, because

– pe : also

– pembeni : near, close, nearby, next door, aside

– pene : near

– penza : really, so

– po ete : so that

– po na : for, in order to

– po na nini ? : why ?

– sasa hivi : immediately, without delay

– sika sik’oyo : right now

– sik’oyo or sik’awa (contractions of « sika oyo » or « sika awa ») : now

– sima (sima ya ou sima na) : after, at the end of, behind

– soki : if

– soki te : otherwise

– talo boni ? : how much ?

– tango : during, at the moment when

– tango mosusu : it may be that, in addition

– te : negation, no, not to, never, without

– tii : until

– too : or, either

– uto (wuta) : since

– wana : that

– wawa (waa) : in complete peace of mind, without worries

– wuta : from

– yango : this, these, that, the (complement)

– yango oyo : here it is

– yango wana : there it is, that is why

– ye : him, her

– yele : a lot, in abundance

– yo : you

III. QUALIFIERS, ADJECTIVES.

As a general rule, to indicate an adjective (e. g. “strong”), the noun indicating the qualifier (here “makasi”) is preceded by “ya” which means “of” (belonging) and the translation “ya makasi” is obtained for “strong”.

When the qualifier is assimilated to the past participle of a verb, it is translated by prefacing the verb with “ya”. For example, “thin” means “ya kokonda”.

Note: Some qualifiers are derived from verbs and describe the permanent or habitual action of the verb, whereas for “kokonda” we obtain “akonda” which means “thin” and we will say “alobaka mingi te” to describe someone who is taciturn. The prefix “a” is changed to “e” when the qualifier does not refer to a human.

– (ya) baba : mute

– (ya) boboto : peaceful, kind

– (ya) bolimu : pious, spiritual, virtuous

– (ya) bolole : good-for-nothing, idiot

– (ya) bololo : bitter

– (ya) bopikiliki : vigorous, enduring

– (ya) bosembo : fair, impartial, honest

– (ya) botosi : obedient

– (ya) buania : wise, quiet

– (ya) danze : extraordinary, great, impressive, terrific

– (ya) ekenge : vigilant, careful

– (ya) elenge : young

– (ya) elengi : tasty, pleasant

– (ya) esanto : sacred

– (ya) esengo : joyful, happy

– (ya) kopola : rotten

– (ya) kafukafu : extraordinary, sumptuous

– (ya) kafumba : huge, gigantic

– (ya) kala : old

– (ya) kanda : nasty, quick-tempered

– (ya) kati : internal, private

– (ya) kilo : respectable, important, of weight

– (ya) kimia : peaceful, quiet

– (ya) kitoko : beautiful, pretty

– (ya) kobeba : spoiled, decomposed

– (ya) kokamua : amazing

– (ya) kolemba : spineless, soft

– (ya) konzo : valiant, intrepid, energetic

– (ya) kuzu: private, intimate

– (ya) libanda : external

– (ya) libela : definitive, eternal

– (ya) liboso : first, at the head

– (ya) likolo : celestial, from above

– (ya) likunia : envious

– (ya) lofundu : conceited, arrogant

– (ya) lokoso : greedy, selfish

– (ya) lokumu : honourable, respectable

– (ya) lokuta : untrue, false

– (ya) lolanda : blind

– (ya) lolendo : vain, proud, disobedient

– (ya) mabe : bad

– (ya) makasi : strong, complicated

– (ya) malamu : good

– (ya) malili : cold

– (ya) malonga : good, interesting, decent

– (ya) masese : wise

– (ya) matata : complicated, difficult

– (ya) mayele : intelligent, cunning

– (ya) mawa : sad

– (ya) mbangu : fast

– (ya) mbindo : dirty, filthy, evil-minded, harmful

– (ya) mbinga: strong, hardened, robust

– (ya) mbutu-mbutu: complicated, conflictual

– (ya) mingi : abundant

– (ya) mobali : right, male

– (ya) mobesu : young, unripe, raw

– (ya) mobimba : whole, complete, virgin, healthy

– (ya) mobulu : undisciplined, thug

– (ya) moke : insignificant, insufficient

– (ya) mokolo : aged, old

– (ya) mokuse : short, small

– (ya) molaso : fickle, weak, unstable

– (ya) molayi : long, tall

– (ya) molunge : hot, stifling

– (ya) mondele : white, fair-skinned

– (ya) monene : large, important, serious

– (ya) monzemba : single

– (ya) mosielu: slippery

– (ya) mosika: far (away)

– (ya) mosoto : dirty

– (ya) moto: hot

– (ya) motuya : expensive, precious, valuable, important (materially)

– (ya) mozindo : deep

– (ya) mpeto (peto) : clean, healthy

– (ya) mpiko : courageous, tenacious, serious, patient

– (ya) muasi : left, female

– (ya) muindu : black, dark

– (ya) mutakala : naked

– (ya) nguya : powerful

– (ya) niamu-niamu : not serious, fickle, unstable

– (ya) niekese : soft, comfortable

– (ya) nzunzu : bold, lively, hyperactive, energetic

– (ya) ofele : free, offered

– (ya) pamba : for nothing, free

– (ya) pembeni : near, next door

– (ya) pene : near

– (ya) pepele : light, intact, flawless, stain-free

– (ya) pete : soft, easy

– (ya) piyo : cold

– (ya) polele: empty, clear, open

– (ya) se : terrestrial, from below

– (ya) seko : eternal

– (ya) seleka : true

– (ya) sembo : fair, right, honest, loyal, truthful

– (ya) sembe-sembe : soft, silky

– (ya) sika : new

– (ya) siki-siki : real, true, clear

– (ya) sima : next

– (ya) solo : true, real

– (ya) somi : free, legitimate

– (ya) somo : terrifying, frightening, horrible

– (ya) suka : last, ultimate, final, extreme

– (ya) talo : precious, of (great) value

– (ya) tina : useful, essential, important (morally)

– (ya) yambo : first

– (ya) yuma : weak, cowardly

– (ya) zoba : idiot

– (ya) zuwa : jealous

1. FIGURES AND NUMERATION.

0=libungutulu ; 1=moko; 2=mibale; 3=misato; 4=minei;

5=mitano; 6=motoba; 7=sambo; 8=muambe; 9=libua;

10=zomi; 11=zomi na moko; 12=zomi na mibale; 13=zomi na misato;

14=zomi na minei; 15=zomi na mitano; 16= zomi na motoba;

17=zomi na sambo; 18=zomi na muambe; 19=zomi na libua;

20=tuku mibale; 21=tuku mibale na moko… 29=tuku mibale na libua;

30=tuku misato; 40=tuku minei; …. 90=tuku libua; 99=tuku libua na libua;

100=kama moko; 101=kama moko na moko;110=kama moko na zomi;

127=kama moko tuku mibale na sambo;

1.000= koto yoko; 6.000=koto motoba;

6.938= koto motoba kama libua tuku misato na muambe

1.530.089= milioni moko koto kama mitano na tuku misato tuku muambe na libua

First (firstly): ya liboso, ya yambo (ya mbala liboso)

Second (secondly): ya mibale (ya mbala mibale)

Third (thirdly): ya misato (ya mbala misato)

…

Eleventh (in the eleventh place): ya zomi na moko (ya mbala zomi na moko)

Mbala means: times.

– Ten clothes: bilamba zomi

– Six oranges: malala motoba

– 42 plates: basani tuku minei na mibale

1. TIME MEASUREMENT.

– time : tango

– day : mokolo (plural : mikolo)

– on this day, in today’s day : lelo, na mokolo ya lelo, lelo na moyi

– morning: tongo (the sun rises : tongo etani)

– this morning : na tongo ya lelo, lelo na tongo

– midday : nzanga

– evening : pokwa

– this evening tonight : na pokwa ya lelo, lelo na pokwa

– night : butu (it’s night : butu eyindi)

– tonight : na butu ya lelo, lelo na butu

– yesterday : lobi (lobi loleki)

– today : lelo, lel’oyo

– tomorrow : lobi (lobi lokoya)

– day after tomorrow (next day) : sima na lobi

– the day before yesterday : lobi lolekaki, lobi (oyo) kuna

– the other day : mokolo wana (before the day before yesterday, after the day after tomorrow)

– Monday : mokolo ya yambo (the first day), mua mosala moko (yambo)

– Tuesday : mokolo ya mibale (second day), mua mosala mibale

– Wednesday : mokolo ya misato, mua mosala misatu

– Thursday : mokolo ya minei, mua mosala minei

– Friday : mokolo ya mitano, mua mosala mitano

– Saturday : mokolo ya poso, mua poso

– Sunday : mokolo ya yenga, mokolo ya lomingo, mua yenga

– holiday, celebration : eyenga

– week : poso

– day of the week : mua mosala

– day of the month (date) : mia sanza

– month (moon) : sanza

– year (rain) : mbula, mobu

– century : ekeke

– hour (clock) : ngonga

– 1^st  hour : ngonga ya yambo

– 6^th  hour : ngonga ya motoba

– moment (hour) : eleko