Relation of The Conga To The Kongo Ethnic Group
Congo was the word used to designate African slaves brought to Cuba from the Congo region of Africa (Kongo, Kongo-RDC and Angola). According to the rules of Spanish grammar, congo became a masculine noun/adjective and its feminine counterpart was formed by changing final "o" to "a." This Spanish noun/adjective pair has been used in Cuba to designate anything pertaining to the above-mentioned African slaves and their culture. Therefore, some have assumed that "conga" was originally an adjective (as in the expression comparsa conga), and that the comparsa was dropped and conga changed to a noun (del Carmen et al. 2005). However, the word conga may also derive from either maconga ("song") or nkunga ("song" or "sound") in "the language of the Congo" (Ortíz 1924:118).
Ortíz (II 1952-5:34) also states that the drum called “bokú” (one of the instruments of the conga) is “…typical of the congos." Goodman mentions the “comparsa conga” in conjunction with a carnaval figure known as “el Rey del Congo” (the "King of the Congo”), which seems to confirm a kongo ethnic connection to the conga (Pérez I 1988:104). Also, the word bokú means “drum” in Kikongo (Orovio 1981:58).
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