Millions of Rwandans and other Kinyarwanda speakers have struggled to understand why changes were recently introduced in the language’s orthography. The new instructions on how to write Kinyarwanda were gazetted last month and left those who write the language a period of two years to comply with the new style.

The New Times’ Eugene Kwibuka last week spoke to the executive secretary of Rwanda Academy of Languages and Culture, Dr James Vuningoma, about why the academy has chosen to change the orthography only two-and-a-half years since the institution became operational and what plans are there to make the language users aware of the new changes. Excerpts:

It’s been two-and-a-half years since you assumed office and recently you came up with some changes of the orthography for Kinyarwanda language. How did you come up with the idea?

Looking into the orthography of Kinyarwanda is part of the academy’s mission. A 2010 law outlined everything about protecting and promoting Kinyarwanda language and culture. The law gives latitude to Rwanda Academy of Languages and Culture to look into all aspects of the language. So, the academy embarked on that. As far as language is concerned there were two things to look at, what do we do to preserve Kinyarwanda? You remember that Kinyarwanda is a language that is intertwined with our history. Our history being a history of movement– a history of people coming in and out– and every time they went, they came back with a mixture of cultures and languages.

That’s how Kinyarwanda, French, and English almost became part and parcel of our being. The language called Kinyafranglais came up as a result of mixing these languages.

If you listen carefully to the Kinyarwanda dialect, you hear a mixture of these languages. So, the academy worked hard to make sure that they expose such issues and invite Rwandans to defend their own language.

The second one is the orthography meant to lay the ground for Banyarwanda to know how their language is used or spoken. We did not change much. Only about 16 per cent changed. There are people who claim the orthography of Kinyarwanda has changed much and that they may need to go back to school to learn the language. This is not true.

The little you changed, at what point did you feel the changes were necessary?

The changes in our language have always followed ministerial orders. All ministerial orders were there right from the time of ministers Thaddée Bagaragaza (1985), Aloys Nsekarije and then Dr Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, but there were certain aspects in them that called for revision if we wanted to adapt our language to our times. We looked into them since 2012.

We started by asking Rwandans and they told us what they thought about their language. We then called a workshop of university lecturers, Kinyarwanda primary and secondary school teachers, journalists, members of the civil society, and 15 academicians from the Rwanda Academy of Languages and Culture.

The academicians are seasoned scholars and are the guarantors, and custodians who look at the identity of Banyarwanda, including the language, as one factor.

When you carried out the consultations, what problem did you find?

The major problem was mixing of the language, which according to many Rwandans posed a big threat to the existence of the Kinyarwanda language. We have tried to deal with this problem by running campaigns in the media and are happy with the outcome.

The second challenge was orthographical. There were weaknesses in the writing of the language that had to be addressed. We have programmes to sensitise Banyarwanda about accepting the changes that have been made. Within two years, I think Banyarwanda will have been used to the new small changes we made on the orthography.

So what channels will you use to sensitise people about the new changes?

We will use the media like radio, television, print media, and online media. The online media has been very active and many of them have come here to talk with us and see how we can promote this ministerial order.

Talking of the changes you made on the Kinyarwanda orthography as outlined in the ministerial order, can you once again explain why you decided to make the changes instead of continuing with what people were used to?

We had to put into consideration the historic persepective. We made sure that we put into consideration certain things that were neglected in the past. If you say something and write something else, then there is a problem. We, therefore, had to harmonise spoken and written words.

Then it’s about simplifying the language?

Simplifying it, making it more practical and user-friendly.

So, what’s the intended impact after making the changes?

The impact is to make sure we protect and promote Kinyarwanda. It’s a language that is undergoing evolution and Banyarwanda have to own that evolution.

The language had been distorted by church leaders, from the time of Bishop Classe, who interpreted it the way they wanted. But for the first time in the history of Rwanda, Rwandans have had a say in determining the direction of their language. Prior to this, the government dictated on the usage of the language but this time around, extensive consultations have been made.

Of course naysayers will say that our data was not enough, that we should have gone to villages for consultations but the best I know in social sciences, we used the same mechanisms of consultations in order to arrive at results.

Some people have criticised the academy for not adding new words to the Kinyarwanda dialect before changing what we have already. What’s your take on that?

What they are saying is true but we have already embarked on it. Last year we called a workshop on amuga, which is the creation of new terminologies. We also have a desk for creation of terminologies but those will come in the next phase, not now.

When will that be?

It will be by the end of the current financial year. We will be having a workshop to identify terminologies for agriculture and animal husbandry, ICT, and much more. These are stages of the evolution of the language. Some people may say that this was more important than that but it’s because they don’t understand the mechanism and evolution of the language.

We need to tell Rwandans that this is our agenda: first orthography, then grammar, then dictionary, then keep adding on some terminologies.

It is a whole process and Rwandans in the future will know that once in their history, there was a body (the Rwanda Academy of Languages and Culture) that guaranteed their identity, language, and culture.

Speaking of language and culture, there are some Rwandans who don’t speak Kinyarwanda even if they live in Rwanda, what do you think is the cause of this?

It is part of our history. There are answers which are simple to lay out. Our history made Rwandans speak other languages other than their own. This is because they lived as refugees in many parts of the world. They went to school there and learnt French, English or other languages. But later they came back to Rwanda. We only have to encourage them to learn their own language and catch up with lost times.

And as Rwanda opens up for regional integration, where do you see the future of Kinyarwanda?

As you might know, Kinyarwanda is spoken by over 30 million people across the region. But the custodians are Rwandans. Kinyarwanda has been identified as a cross border language. It is spoken in Tanzania, Uganda, DR Congo, Burundi, and in all countries where Rwandans live.

One good thing that gives hope for our language is that no matter where you go, you still find Rwandans speaking their language and taking pride in their own culture.

In this endeavour of regional integration, Kinyarwanda is certainly going to have its own place as a cross border language.