Mangbetu language

Last updated
Mangbetu
Nemangbetu
Region Congo (DRC)
Ethnicity Mangbetu people
Native speakers
(650,000 Mangbetu proper cited 1985) [1]
Lombi: 12,000 (1993) [2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
mdj   Mangbetu
lmi   Lombi
Glottolog mang1394   Mangbetu
lomb1254   Lombi

Mangbetu, or Nemangbetu, is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages. It is spoken by the Mangbetu people of northeastern Congo. It, or its speakers, are also known as Amangbetu, Kingbetu, Mambetto. The most populous dialect, and the one most widely understood, is called Medje. Others are Aberu (Nabulu), Makere, Malele, Popoi (Mapopoi). The most divergent is Lombi; Ethnologue treats it as a distinct language. About half of the population speaks Bangala, a trade language similar to Lingala, and in southern areas some speak Swahili.

Contents

The Mangbetu live in association with the Asua Pygmies, and their languages are closely related.

Dialects

Mangbetu dialects and locations as listed by Demolin (1992): [3]

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
+ATR -ATR +ATR -ATR +ATR -ATR
Close i ɪ u ʊ
Mid e ɛ o ɔ
Open a a

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Postalv./
Palatal
Velar Labial-
velar
Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t ʈʳ t͡ʃ k k͡p ʔ
voiced b d ɖʳ d͡ʒ ɡ ɡ͡b
prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ᶯɖʳ ᵑɡ ᵑᵐɡ͡b
implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced v z
prenasalized ᶬv ⁿz
Trill voiceless ʙ̥
voiced ʙ
prenasalized ᵐʙ
Tap
Approximant l j w

Retroflex consonants are slightly trilled as [ʈʳ], [ɖʳ], [ᶯɖʳ]. [5]

Other Features

One unusual feature of Mangbetu is that it has both a voiced and a voiceless bilabial trill as well as a labial flap. [6] [7]

[nóʙ̥ù] "to bring out"
[nóʙù] "to fan"
[nómʙù] "to enclose"
[nóⱱò] "to defecate"
[nóʙò] "to get fat"

The labial trills are not particularly associated with back vowels or prenasalization, pace their development in some American languages. [8]

[éʙ̥ì] "leaping like a leopard"
[nɛʙàʙá] "kind of plan"

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Mangbetu at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).
    Lombi at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).
  2. Lombi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  3. Demolin, Didier. 1992. Le Mangbetu: etude phonétique et phonologique, 2 vols. Brussels: Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres, Université libre de Bruxelles dissertation.
  4. 1 2 Bokula, Moiso & Agozia-Kario Irumu. 1994. Bibliographie et matériaux lexicaux des langues Moru-Mangbetu (Soudan-Central, Zaïre). Annales Aequatoria 10: 203‒245.
  5. Demolin, Didier (1991). L'analyse des segments, de la syllabe et des tons dans un jeu de langage mangbetu. Armand Colin, Langages No. 101, Les javanais (MARS 91). pp. 30–50.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. Linguist Wins Symbolic Victory for 'Labiodental Flap'. NPR (2005-12-17). Retrieved on 2010-12-08.
  7. LINGUIST List 8.45: Bilabial trill. Linguistlist.org. Retrieved on 2010-12-08.
  8. Olson & Koogibho (2013) "Labial vibrants in Mangbetu"