Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 23 Issue 3

years, amounting to 31.8 million people, a figure that contrasts with 13.8 million in 1994 and less than half that number of 6.6 million in 1969. Regarding Umbundu language, Angola's population census conducted in 2014 showed that about 23% of the Angolan population spoke Umbundu, making this the largest ethnolinguistic group in Angola. The following three most spoken national languages are Kikongo, Kimbundu and Cokw e 4 , in that order, and altogether do not exceed, in number, the speakers of Umbundu. II. S ociolinguistic C haracterization of O vimbundu The origin of "Ovimbundu" (or Ovimbundo) has been subject of several studies by historians and linguists, such as Soares and Agostinho (2016), with the book A colecção Ovimbundo do museu nacional, Angola 1929-1935 ; Sebestyen (2015) in his book A sociedade ovimbundo nos relatórios de viagens do húngaro László Magyar: sul de Angola, meados do século XIX ; Childs ([1949] (2020)), in his book Umbundu Kinship and Character and Davidson (1981), with the book The Africans , among others. These scholars present various theories about the emergence of the Ovimbundu people in Angola. Their presence in Angola resulted from the movement of the militant Imbangala group that, after arriving in Libolo, established a collaboration that would last for many years with the Portuguese. Later migration and dispersion to the South towards the water springs of the Kwanza led to an ethnic merge, resulting in an association of the autochthonous populations with the Imbangalas. This association resulted in between twelve and twenty independent and autonomous kingdoms that were well-established up until the end of the 18 th century (Soares, 2014:93) According to Benvindo (2016:36), the term Ovimbundu derives from the semantic evolution of the term muntu (munthu ), which in various African linguistic expressions, takes on the meaning of “person”. The author adds that the term muntu constitutes the root of the linguistic origin common to the Bantu people ( Banthu or Vanthu ). A people who have linguistic similarities and share common traits, tracing their heritage not only to a common linguistic root but also to an ethnic origin, possibly closer than that of other African people. The Ovimbundu are a people who, until the Portuguese arrived in Benguela, lived on subsistence farming, hunting, and some cattle and small animal husbandry. Later, with the colonial impositions, began marketing agricultural products, mainly maize. 4 The three groups represent 22,6% of national language speaker population. From a social point of view, the Ovimbundu were always a homogeneous people, living in extensive villages and with a great capacity for mobility, so they spread out to various localities. They also had a humble and obedient character, which may have eased their colonial domination. They were taken to several provinces of Angola for forced labor. This integration of the Ovimbundu generated a particular cultural and linguistic "umbundization" in these areas/regions. In terms of geographical location, the Ovimbundu people reside in territories bordered by other languages, such as: (...) leste com a Língua Cokwe (província do Moxico); a Norte, encontramos a Língua Kimbundu, (província do Kwanza-Sul), a Sul, a Língua Nhyaneka – Humbi e o Oshihelelo, (na Huíla) e ainda a sudoeste, encontramos a Língua Ngangela, na província do Kwando-Kubango. Seguindo a geografia traçada, podemos verificar que o Umbundu se estende, precisamente, em três áreas principais que constituem as três províncias do Huambo, Bié e Benguela. (Costa, 2015: 13-14) 5 Other people live in the Bié region, namely the Cokwe, the second largest linguistic community in the province. Almost all national languages in Angola were in contact with Portuguese during the colonial period. In the case of Umbundu, there was contact in the 15 th century (Costa, 2015: 14) at the beginning of colonial rule in Angola. Through this contact, obviously, a whole process of mutual interference between the two languages in the national territory began. This interference is visible in the expansion and renewal of the lexicon (loans), phonetic modifications of words, and morphosyntactic structuring, among others. About this, Costa (2015: 58) states: Depois de vários séculos de convivência linguística, entre o Português e as línguas nacionais, hoje, o Português em Angola transformou-se numa “língua nova”, com sotaque próprio, diferente do de Portugal e do Brasil; recorre constantemente a unidades lexicais e a expressões do Kimbundu e de outras Línguas angolanas, sobretudo quando quer expressar factos ou realidades socioculturais que o Português não possui e, às vezes, em determinados tipos de discursos, quando quer produzir efeitos estilísticos, dando ênfase a determinada expressão. 6 5 (...) east with the Cokwe language (province of Moxico), to the north, we find the Kimbundu language, (province of Kwanza-Sul), to the South, the Nhyaneka language - Humbi and Oshihelelo, (in Huila) and still to the Southwest, we find the Ngangela language, in the province of Kwando-Kubango. Following the traced geography, we can verify that Umbundu extends, precisely, in three main areas that constitute the three provinces of Huambo, Bié and Benguela. (Costa, 2015: 13-14) 6 After several centuries of linguistic coexistence between Portuguese and the national languages, today, Portuguese in Angola has been transformed into a “new language”, with a particular accent, different from that of Portugal and Brazil; it constantly resorts to lexical units and expressions from Kimbundu and other Angolan Languages, especially when it wants to express facts or sociocultural realities that Volume XXIII Issue III Version I 60 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 G © 2023 Global Journals Preserving the Umbundu Language