Bena language

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Not to be confused with Bena language (Adamawa).
Bena
Ekibena
Native toTanzania
EthnicityBena
Native speakers
670,000 (2001)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Language codes
ISO 639-3bez
Glottologbena1262
Guthrie code
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[]

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; [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ].

  • /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.
  • [cç, tʃ] 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[]

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

References[]

  1. ^ Bena at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Morrison (2011)
  • Morrison, Michelle Elizabeth (2011). A Reference Grammar of Bena (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/70359.


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