Kongoadj.n.

Etymology: < (i) the name of the Kingdom of Kongo (see note), and its etymon (ii) Kongo kôngo, self-designation, also the name of the Kingdom of Kongo. The further etymology of the name within the Kongo language is unknown, and it is unclear whether the name of the people derives from the name of the kingdom, or vice versa, or if both have a common origin.Compare Kongo mukôngo , with singular class prefix denoting a person, bakôngo , with plural class prefix denoting people (see Bakongo n.), and kikôngo , with class prefix denoting a language (see Kikongo n.). Compare also (incorporating the element -isi- earth, land) esikôngo , basikôngo , literally ‘people of the land of Kongo’ (singular mwisikongo ) and kisikôngo , literally ‘language of the land of Kongo’ (compare Kikongo n.), perhaps suggesting that the place name may be primary. The place name in European use. The European names for the region and the river were taken from the name of the Kingdom of Kongo (Kongo Kôngo ya Ntotila ), a former kingdom in western central Africa (covering an area now mainly occupied by northern Angola and the Congo Republics: see Congolese adj.); this kingdom was the dominant power in the region when the Portuguese made contact in the late 15th cent. The place name Kongo (also Congo ) is attested in English from the second half of the 16th cent., initially with reference to the kingdom, and soon afterwards also with reference to the river. It is also attested in French at a similar date. The use of the name to denote the river is a European innovation; in Kongo, it is called Nzâdi , literally ‘large river’. Later European uses of the place name are discussed at Congolese adj. Variant forms. Both this word and Congo adj. and n. have historically been written with initial c or (since the 19th cent.) initial k. In current English use, forms with initial k are typically used to denote the specific ethnic group, and their historical kingdom, while forms with initial c are preferred in uses with reference to the later French and Belgian colonies and the modern countries, and in more general and extended uses.