Introduction

Bongili, a language of the Republic of Congo, is spoken by 11,600 people (Ethnologue 2018) living in the Cuvette, Likouala, and Sangha departments, in the Sangha river area, southeast of Ouesso, to the Pikounda area, and in the Liouesso district.

The language is classified as Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, C, Ngondi (C.15). The ISO Code is [bui]. Some speakers of Bongili also use Lingala.

Continue to the Foreword for a summary of the development of the Bongili language.