| Bena | |
|---|---|
| Ekibena | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
| Ethnicity | Bena |
| Native speakers | 590,000 (2009) |
| Language family | Niger–Congo?
|
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:bez – Benaegm – Benemanga (include Kidugala and Lupembe dialects) |
| Glottolog | bena1262 |
| Guthrie code | G.63 |
| 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; .
- /v/ can be realized as intervocalically.
- can occur as an allophone of /d/ before long non high vowels.
- can occur as an allophone of /k/, /h/ in the Maswamu dialect.
- can occur as allophones of /ts/, in the Twangabita dialect.
- can occur as an allophone of /ⁿs/.
- can occur as an allophone of /j/ in the Maswamu dialect.
- can occur as allophones of /w/ among some speakers.
- Prenasalised stops may be devoiced when occurring word-finally (ex. /ᵐb/ ~ ).
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | ɛ eː | o oː | |
| Low | a aː |
References
- Bena at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Benemanga (include Kidugala and Lupembe dialects) at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- Morrison (2011)
- Morrison, Michelle Elizabeth (2011). A Reference Grammar of Bena (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/70359.
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