How Can We Help?
< Back

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

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

  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.

[1]


Categories
Table of Contents