Mangbetu languages
Appearance
Mangbetu–Asoa | |
---|---|
Mangbetu | |
Geographic distribution | Democratic Republic of Congo |
Linguistic classification | Nilo-Saharan?
|
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | mang1393 |
The Mangbetu–Asoa or Mangbetu languages of the Central Sudanic language family are a cluster of closely related languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The languages are Mangbetu, spoken by perhaps a million people, and the smaller Lombi and Asoa.
Blench (2000) considers Lombi to be part of the Mangbetu dialect continuum. Asoa is spoken by Pygmies.
Proto-Mangbetu has been reconstructed by Demolin (1992).[1]
Comparative vocabulary
Mangbetu-Asua languages comparative lexicon:[2]
Gloss | Asua | Mangbetu | Nabulu | Lombi | Makere | Malele |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
bee | ángíyé | nɛ́ngágɪ̀ | nɛ́ngágɪ́zè | nɛ́ngágì | nɛ́ngágɪ̀ | nɛ́ngágɪ̀ |
animal | élíè | nérí | nélí | nérí | nérí | nérí |
tree | kílílɛ̀yɛ̀ | nèkírè | nèkílè | néhò | nèkílè | néhò |
mouth | tíkpòè | nètíkpò | nètíkpò | nètí | nɛ̀kɔ́rɔ́ | nèkóró |
arm | tɛ̂ | nɛ́tɛ́ | nɛ́tɛ́ | nɛ́tɛ́ | nɛ́tɛ́ | nɛ́tɛ́ |
goat | àmɛ́mɛ̂ | nàmɛ́mɛ́ | nàmɛ́mɛ́ | nàmyɛ́myɛ́ | nàmɛ́mɛ́ | nàmɛ́mɛ́ |
dog | ísìyɛ̀ | nésì | nésì | nésì | nésì | nésì |
horn | lígá | néígá | néégá | nálígá | náágá | náɛ́gá |
to cultivate | ɔ̀ʔà | nɔ̀ʔà | nɔ̀ʔà | nɔ̀ʔà | nɔ̀ʔà | nɔ̀ʔà |
water | gwò | ègwò | ègwò | ègwò | ègwò | ègwò |
elephant | ʊ̀kɔ̀ | nɔ́kɔ̀ | nɔ́kɔ̀ | nɔ́kɔ̀ | nɔ́kɔ̀ | nɔ́kɔ̀ |
iron | kídígwá | néímbá | nèèmbà | èdùmòòmà | náámbá | náɛ́mbá |
arrow | líkámʊ́ɛ̀ | nɛ̀vàngà | nɛ̀vàngà | nɛ̀mbààngú | nɛ̀vàngà | nɛ̀vàngà |
See also
- List of Proto-Mangbetu reconstructions (Wiktionary)
- Central Sudanic word lists (Wiktionary)
Footnotes
- ^ Demolin, Didier. 1992. Le Mangbetu: etude phonétique et phonologique, 2 vols. Brussels: Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres, Université libre de Bruxelles dissertation.
- ^ Demolin, Didier. 2021. The languages of the Ituri forest Pygmies: contact and historical perspectives. Diedrich Westermann-Workshop (West-central African linguistic history between Macro-Sudan Belt and Niger-Congo: commemorating Diedrich Westermann’s legacy and the 100th anniversary of the Berlin professorship for African languages), 4-6 November 2021, Humboldt University of Berlin.
References
- Nilo-Saharan list (Blench 2000)