Mbelime language

Eastern Oti-Volta Gur language of Benin

Mbelime
Native toBenin
Native speakers
40,000 (2006)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
  • Atlantic–Congo
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
 Benin
Language codes
ISO 639-3mql
Glottologmbel1240

Mbelime, or Niende, is an Eastern Oti-Volta Gur language of northwestern Benin. Mbelime is spoken by approximately 131,000 people.[2][3] There is a Mbelime dictionary.[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants[5]
Labial Apical Palatal Velar Labial-
velar		 Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t c k k͡p
voiced b ɖ
Nasal m n
Fricative f s
Approximant w j
  • /ɖ/ can be realized as [ɖ], [ɭ], or [ɽ] between vowels.[6]
  • /k͡p/ tends to be realized as [kw].[6]
  • /m/ and /n/ assimilate to following consonants, e.g., [ɳ] before [ɖ] and [ŋ] before [k].[7]

Vowels

Mbelime has 7 oral vowels and 5 nasal vowels.[7]

Oral vowels[7]
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
Nasal vowels[7]
Front Central Back
Close ĩ ũ
Open-mid ɛ̃ ɔ̃
Open ã

Notes

  1. ^ Mbelime at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Roberts, David; Boyd, Ginger; Merz, Johannes; Vydrin, Valentin (2020). "Quantifying written ambiguities in tone languages: A comparative study of Elip, Mbelime, and Eastern Dan". Language Documentation & Conservation. 14: 108–138. ISSN 1934-5275.
  3. ^ Merz, Johannes (2017). Frictions et inversion de modernité: Portrait de la Commune de Cobly dans l'Atacora du Bénin (Report). SIL Electronic Working Papers (in French). Vol. 2017–001.
  4. ^ Sambiéni, N. Bienvenue; Merz, Johannes; Merz, Sharon, eds. (14 December 2023) [22 January 2016]. Dictionnaire mbèlimè. Rough draft. SIL International. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  5. ^ Neukom 2004, p. 5.
  6. ^ a b Neukom 2004, p. 6.
  7. ^ a b c d Neukom 2004, p. 7.

References

  • Neukom, Lukas (2004). Esquisse grammaticale du mbèlimè, langue voltaïque du Bénin. Arbeiten des Seminars für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (in French). Vol. 18. Zürich: ASAS. OCLC 85361935.

Further reading

  • Hatfield, Deborah H.; McHenry, Michael (2011). A sociolinguistic survey of the Mbelime language area (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports. Vol. 2011–010. Dallas, TX: SIL International.
  • Kombetto, N. N. Simon; Taouéma, P. K. Philippe; Sanhouegoua, D. Bernard; Merz, Johannes; Sambiéni, N. Bienvenue; Merz, Sharon (2017). Guide de l'orthographe mbèlimè suivant la réforme de 2017 (in French). ISBN 978-99919-818-2-6.
  • Melick, Christina M. (2012). Tone in the Mbelime Verb System (MA thesis). Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. ISBN 978-1-55671-341-5.
  • Rietkerk, Dieke (2000). "Tone on Mbelime verbs". Cahiers voltaı̈ques/Gur papers. 5: 141–147.


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