Mangbai language
Appearance
(Redirected from Mambay language)
Mangbai | |
---|---|
Native to | Cameroon, Chad |
Native speakers | 14,000 (2002–2011)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mcs |
Glottolog | mamb1294 |
ELP | Mambai |
Mangbai (Mamgbay, Mambai) is an Mbum language of northern Cameroon and southern Chad.
Distribution
[edit]In Cameroon, Mambay is spoken along the Mayo-Kebi River near the Chadian border, in the Djaloumé region (northern end of Bibemi commune, Bénoué department), where there is a massif called Hosséré Mambay. It is also spoken in the extreme southeast of Figuil commune, Mayo-Louti department. In Cameroon and Chad, there is a total of about 2,500 speakers, many of whom also speak Mundang.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit][2] | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | kp | ʔ | |
voiced | b | d | ɡ | gb | |||
implosive | ɓ | ɗ | |||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | |||
voiced | v | z | |||||
Nasal | plain | m | n | ŋ | |||
glottalized | ˀm | ˀn | ˀŋ | ||||
Flap/Trill | ⱱ̟ | r | |||||
Approximant | plain | l | j | w | |||
glottalized | ˀj | ˀw |
Vowels
[edit]Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
short | long | short | long | short | long | |
High | i | iː | u | uː | ||
Mid | e | eː | o | oː | ||
Low | a | aː |
/e, o/ are heard as [ɛ, ɔ] when in closed syllables.
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
short | long | short | long | short | long | |
High | ĩ | ĩː | ũ | ũː | ||
Low | ã | ãː |
Glottalized
[edit]Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | iˀ | uˀ | |
Mid | eˀ | oˀ | |
Low | aˀ |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | ĩˀ | ũˀ | |
Low | ãˀ |
Pharyngealized
[edit]Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Mid | eˤ | oˤ | |
Low | aˤ |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | ĩˤ | ũˤ | |
Low | ãˤ |
References
[edit]- ^ Mangbai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Anonby, Erik John (2008). "Phonology and Morphology of Mambay (Niger-Congo, Adamawa)". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2023-09-18.