Kiga is the native language of the people of Kiga people (Bakiga). Kiga is a very similar language to the Nkore language. It was first written in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Kiga is so similar to Nkore (84%–94% lexical similarity) that some argue they are dialects of the same language, Although Rukiga is a more agressive tone, a language called Nkore-Kiga by Charles Taylor

Charles V. Taylor (linguist)

Dr. Charles V. Taylor was an Australian linguist and the author of at least 19 books on topics ranging from African linguistics to church history. He was also known as a Bible teacher and a frequent Christian magazine contributor.- Eduacation :...

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In common with other Bantu

Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...

 languages, Kiga has a noun class system in which prefixes on nouns mark membership of one of the noun genders. Pronouns, adjectives, and verbs reflect the noun gender of the nominal they refer to. Some examples of noun classes:

• mu – person (singular), e.g. omukiga = inhabitant of Kigezi
  Kigezi
  Kigezi District once covered what are now Kabale District, Kanungu District, Kisoro District and Rukungiri District, in southwest Uganda. Its terraced fields are what gives this part of Uganda its distinctive character. Kigezi was popularly known as the Switzerland of East Africa...
  
  land
• ru – language, e.g. Rukiga = language of the Kiga
• ba – people, e.g. Bakiga = The Kiga people
• ki – customs or traditions, e.g. kikiga, (sometimes spelled Kichiga), describes religious tradition common to the Kiga people. Sometimes the people are called 'Chiga' by people not understanding the linguistic rules in relation to the prefixes.

The sound l is not distinctive in Rukiga. The letter "r" is used instead.