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Bena language

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Bena
Ekibena
Native toTanzania
EthnicityBena
Native speakers
590,000 (2009)[1]
Dialects
  • Bena
  • Benamanga
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
bez – Bena
egm – Benemanga (include Kidugala and Lupembe dialects)
Glottologbena1262
G.63[2]
Linguasphere99-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

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Consonants

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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 [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.
  • [, ] 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

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Front Central Back
High i u
Mid ɛ o
Low a
  • /i, u/ before non-rounded vowels are recognized as glides [j, w].[3]

References

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