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Tongwe language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tongwe
Bende
Native toTanzania
Native speakers
(40,000 cited 1999–2001)[1]
Dialects
  • Tongwe
  • Bende
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
tny – Tongwe
bdp – Bende
Glottologtong1320  Tongwe
bend1258  Bende
F.10 (F.11–12)[2]
ELPBende

Tongwe (Sitongwe) and Bende (Sibende) constitute a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone F.10 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003),[3] they form a valid node. Indeed, at 90% lexical similarity they may be dialects of a single language.

Phonology

[edit]
Consonants[4]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d c ɟ k g
Fricative f s z h
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Approximant w j
Vowels[4]
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a ã

Additionally, Bende has four tones;[4] high, low, rising, and falling.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Tongwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Bende at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Nurse, Derek; Philippson, Gérard, eds. (2003). The Bantu languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780700711345.
  4. ^ a b c Abe, Yuko (2006). "A Bende Vocabulary". Bantu Vocabulary Series (13). Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

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