Lendu Language

Lendu Language

The Lendu, or Balendru, are an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, in particular the Ituri Region of Orientale Province. Their language is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages. There are three-quarters of a million Lendu speakers in the DRC, and 10,000 more in Uganda. A conflict between the Lendu and Hema people was the basis of the Ituri conflict.

Ethnologue gives Badha as an alternative name of Lendu, but Blench (2000) lists it as a distinct language.

Besides the Balendru themselves, Lendu is spoken as a native language by a portion of the Hema, Alur, and Okebu.

Read more about Lendu Language:  Phonology

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