Mbelime language

Last updated

Mbelime
Native to Benin
Native speakers
40,000 (2006) [1]
Niger–Congo?
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Flag of Benin.svg  Benin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mql
Glottolog mbel1240

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]

Contents

Phonology

Consonants

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

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

  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.
  5. Neukom 2004, p. 5.
  6. 1 2 Neukom 2004, p. 6.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Neukom 2004, p. 7.

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References

Further reading