University 0/ Wisconsin-Madison; Unil'ersify 0/ Burundi ABSTRACf This paper examines tbe socio-cultural and historical factors that shaped the lexicon of the Kirundi language. The first part is a sketch of tbe ethnic composition and socio-Iinguistic situation of Burundi. The second part is a review of the historical context (mostly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries) in which African, Asian and European linguistic communities came into contact with the Kirundi-speaking population. The

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... er discu5..<es phenomena such as regional trade, migrations, colonial rule and civil war. and their demographic and cultural impacts which are relevant to an understanding of the roots of the contemporary Kirundi vocabulary.