Mbelime language

Mbelime
Mbelime
Native to	Benin
Native speakers	40,000 (2006)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Gur Northern Oti–Volta Eastern (Somba) Mbelime; ; ; ; ; ;
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	Benin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mql
Glottolog	mbel1240

Last updated January 02, 2026

Mbelime, or Niende, is an Eastern Oti-Volta Gur language of northwestern Benin. Mbelime is spoken by approximately 131,000 people.^[2]^[3] There is a Mbelime dictionary.^[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[5]
		Labial	Apical	Palatal	Velar	Labial- velar
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c	k	k͡p
Plosive	voiced	b	ɖ
Nasal		m	n
Fricative		f	s
Approximant		w		j

/ɖ/ can be realized as [ ɖ ], [ ɭ ], or [ ɽ ] between vowels.^[6]
/k͡p/ tends to be realized as [kw].^[6]
/m/ and /n/ assimilate to following consonants, e.g., [ ɳ ] before [ ɖ ] and [ ŋ ] before [ k ].^[7]

Vowels

Mbelime has 7 oral vowels and 5 nasal vowels.^[7]

Oral vowels^[7]
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

Nasal vowels^[7]
	Front	Central	Back
Close	ĩ		ũ
Open-mid	ɛ̃		ɔ̃
Open		ã

Notes

↑ Mbelime at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Roberts, David; Boyd, Ginger; Merz, Johannes; Vydrin, Valentin (2020). "Quantifying written ambiguities in tone languages: A comparative study of Elip, Mbelime, and Eastern Dan". Language Documentation & Conservation. 14: 108–138. ISSN 1934-5275.
↑ Merz, Johannes (2017). Frictions et inversion de modernité: Portrait de la Commune de Cobly dans l'Atacora du Bénin (Report). SIL Electronic Working Papers (in French). Vol. 2017–001.
↑ Sambiéni, N. Bienvenue; Merz, Johannes; Merz, Sharon, eds. (14 December 2023) [22 January 2016]. Dictionnaire mbèlimè. Rough draft. SIL International. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
↑ Neukom 2004, p. 5.
1 2 Neukom 2004, p. 6.
1 2 3 4 Neukom 2004, p. 7.

References

Neukom, Lukas (2004). Esquisse grammaticale du mbèlimè, langue voltaïque du Bénin. Arbeiten des Seminars für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (in French). Vol. 18. Zürich: ASAS. OCLC 85361935.

Hatfield, Deborah H.; McHenry, Michael (2011). A sociolinguistic survey of the Mbelime language area (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports. Vol. 2011–010. Dallas, TX: SIL International.
Kombetto, N. N. Simon; Taouéma, P. K. Philippe; Sanhouegoua, D. Bernard; Merz, Johannes; Sambiéni, N. Bienvenue; Merz, Sharon (2017). Guide de l'orthographe mbèlimè suivant la réforme de 2017 (in French). ISBN 978-99919-818-2-6.
Melick, Christina M. (2012). Tone in the Mbelime Verb System (MA thesis). Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. ISBN 978-1-55671-341-5.
Rietkerk, Dieke (2000). "Tone on Mbelime verbs". Cahiers voltaı̈ques/Gur papers. 5: 141–147.

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[e18-1] Mbelime at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Roberts, David; Boyd, Ginger; Merz, Johannes; Vydrin, Valentin (2020). "Quantifying written ambiguities in tone languages: A comparative study of Elip, Mbelime, and Eastern Dan". Language Documentation & Conservation. 14: 108–138. ISSN 1934-5275.

[3] Merz, Johannes (2017). Frictions et inversion de modernité: Portrait de la Commune de Cobly dans l'Atacora du Bénin (Report). SIL Electronic Working Papers (in French). Vol. 2017–001.

[4] Sambiéni, N. Bienvenue; Merz, Johannes; Merz, Sharon, eds. (14 December 2023) [22 January 2016]. Dictionnaire mbèlimè. Rough draft. SIL International. Retrieved 27 August 2024.

[FOOTNOTENeukom20045-5] Neukom 2004, p. 5.

[FOOTNOTENeukom20046-6] 1 2 Neukom 2004, p. 6.

[FOOTNOTENeukom20047-7] 1 2 3 4 Neukom 2004, p. 7.

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