Mambila | |
---|---|
Region | Nigeria and Cameroon |
Native speakers | (130,000 cited 1993) [1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:
mzk – Nigerian Mambila
mcu – Camerounian Mambila |
Glottolog |
nige1255 Nigeria
came1252 Cameroon |
Mambila is a dialect chain stretching across Nigeria and Cameroon. It is one of the Mambiloid languages, a branch of Benue–Congo.
Notable dialects are Barup, Bang, Dorofi, Gembu, Hainari, Kabri, Mayo Ndaga, Mbamnga, Tamien, Warwar (in Nigeria); Sunu Torbi (Torbi), Ju Naare (Gembu), and in Cameroon, Ju Ba and Langa. Mambila goes by numerous names, which, besides the dialectical names, include Bea, Ble, Juli, Lagubi, Nor, Nor Tagbo, Tongbo, and the spellings Mabila, Mambere, Mambilla.
Tep is generally considered a dialect by those in Tep and by speakers of other varieties of Mambila, but though Tep speakers are ethnically Mambila, their speech is not intelligible to other varieties. In terms of linguistic classification it may be more accurate to call it a different Mambiloid language. See Connell references below.
Blacksmiths among the Mambila once spoke Somyev, a related Mambiloid language, though this is nearly extinct.
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | ɯ | u |
Close-mid | e | o | ||
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | ||
Open | a |
There is an occurrence of fricativized close vowel combinations when preceded by a number of consonants. An alveolo-palatal fricative with vowels /i, ɨ/ as [ʑ͜i, ʑ͜ɨ], and a labio-dental sound with /ɯ/ as [v͜ɯ]. The only consonants /b, f, t, d, n, l, ʃ, k/ are heard with the fricativized vowels [bʑ, ʃʑ, fv, tv, dv, nv, lv, kv]. [2]
Labial | Alveolar |
Postalv./ Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | lab. | ||||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||
Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | kʷ | ||
voiced | b | d | g | ɡʷ | |||
prenasal vl. | ᵐp | ⁿt | ᵑk | ᵑkʷ | |||
prenasal vd. | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡʷ | |||
Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡ʃ | ||||
voiced | d͡z | d͡ʒ | |||||
prenasal vl. | ⁿt͡s | ||||||
prenasal vd. | ⁿd͡z | ⁿd͡ʒ | |||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | (x) | h | |
voiced | v | ||||||
prenasal vl. | ᶬf | ⁿs | |||||
prenasal vd. | ᶬv | ⁿz | |||||
Trill | (r) | ||||||
Tap | ɺ | ||||||
Approximant | lateral | l | |||||
plain | j | w |
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