sentences:  The importance of Lingala as a vernacular has since grown with the size and importance of its main centers of use, Kinshasa and Brazzaville; with its use as the lingua franca of the armed forces; and with the popularity of soukous music.European missionaries called the language "Bangala", after the Bangala people, or "Lingala".The latter was intended to mean '(language) of the Bangala' or 'of the River' (that is, 'Riverine Language').