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 |
References
- ^ Bena at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Benemanga (includes Kidugala and Lupembe dialects) at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Morrison (2011)
- Morrison, Michelle Elizabeth (2011). A Reference Grammar of Bena (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/70359.