Bena language

Not to be confused with Bena language (Adamawa).

Bena
Ekibena
Native to	Tanzania
Ethnicity	Bena
Native speakers	590,000 (2009) [1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Bena–Kinga (G60) Bena
Dialects	Bena Benamanga
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: bez  – Bena egm  – Benemanga (includes Kidugala and Lupembe dialects)
Glottolog	bena1262
Guthrie code	G.63 [2]
Linguasphere	99-AUS-ub incl. varieties 99-AUS-uba...-ubg

Bena is a Bantu language spoken by the Bena people of the Iringa region of Tanzania.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑɡ
Affricate			ts
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			h
	voiced	v
	prenasal		ⁿs
Approximant			l	j	w

Voiceless sounds almost always occur as aspirated stops; [ pʰ , tʰ , kʰ ].

• / v / can be realized as [ ʋ ] intervocalically.
• [ ɖ ] can occur as an allophone of / d / before long non high vowels.
• [ x ] can occur as an allophone of / k /, / h / in the Maswamu dialect.
• [ cç , tʃ ] can occur as allophones of / ts /, in the Twangabita dialect.
• [ ⁿz ] can occur as an allophone of / ⁿs /.
• [ ɟ ] can occur as an allophone of / j / in the Maswamu dialect.
• [ β , ʋ ] can occur as allophones of / w / among some speakers.
• Prenasalised stops may be devoiced when occurring word-finally (ex. / ᵐb / ~ [ᵐb̥]).

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid	ɛ eː		o oː
Low		a aː

• / i , u / before non-rounded vowels are recognized as glides [ j , w ]. ^[3]

References

1. Bena at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
   Benemanga (includes Kidugala and Lupembe dialects) at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Morrison (2011)

• Morrison, Michelle Elizabeth (2011). A Reference Grammar of Bena (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl: 1911/70359 .