North Teke language

North Teke
Tɛgɛ
Native toCongo, Gabon
Native speakers
(140,000 cited 2000–2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3teg
Glottologteke1275
B.71[2]

North Teke, or Tɛgɛ (Tege, Teghe, Itege), is a member of the Teke languages dialect continuum of the Congolese plateau.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
prenasal vl. ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk
prenasal vd. ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Affricate voiceless p͡f t͡s t͡ʃ
voiced b͡v (d͡z) d͡ʒ
prenasal vl. ᶬp͡f (ⁿt͡s) ⁿt͡ʃ
prenasal vd. ᶬb͡v (ⁿd͡z) ⁿd͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ
voiced v (ɣ)
prenasal vl. ᶬf
prenasal vd. ᶬv
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Rhotic tap ɾ
trill r
Approximant w l j
  • /b/ can also be heard as [ɓ] in free variation.
  • /ɡ/ can be heard as [ɣ] when in between vowels.[3]
  • Sounds /d͡ʒ, ⁿt͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ/ can also be heard as alveolar [d͡z, ⁿt͡s, ⁿd͡z] in free variation.
  • The following sounds can be labialized as [bʷ, kʷ, fʷ, sʷ, d͡zʷ, ɲʷ, lʷ, mʷ, ᵐbʷ, ⁿt͡ʃʷ, ⁿd͡ʒʷ, ᵑkʷ, ᵑɡʷ].
  • The labialized sounds /kʷ, ᵑkʷ/ can also be heard as [ᵑk͡p, ᵑk͡p].
  • The following sounds can be palatalized as [pʲ, bʲ, kʲ, fʲ, sʲ, t͡sʲ, lʲ, mʲ, ᵐpʲ, ᵐbʲ, ⁿt͡ʃʲ].

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
  • Sounds /i, a, u/ can be heard as [ɪ, ə, ʊ] in lax position.[4]

Alphabet

North Teke alphabet[5]
Uppercase A B D DZ E F G I K L M N NY Ŋ O P PF R S T TS U V W Y
Lowercase a b d dz e f g i k l m n ny ŋ o p pf r s t ts u v w y

References

  1. ^ North Teke at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Tsoue, Pamela C. (2017). Etude des marqueurs verbaux du lètὲɣὲ: langue bantu parlee au Gabon (B71a). Université François Rabelais de Tours.
  4. ^ Linton, Pauline (2016). L’Orthographe du Latege.
  5. ^ Linton 2013.

Works cited

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