Bena
Ekibena
Native toTanzania
EthnicityBena
Native speakers
590,000 (2009)[1]
Dialects
  • Bena
  • Benamanga
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
bez – Bena
egm – Kidugala
egm – Lupembe
egm – Benemanga
Glottologbena1262
G.63[2]
Linguasphere99-AUS-ub incl. varieties 99-AUS-uba...-ubg

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
  • /i, u/ before non-rounded vowels are recognized as glides [j, w].[3]

References

  1. ↑ Bena at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
    Kidugala at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
    Lupembe at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
    Benemanga at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ↑ Morrison (2011)
  • Morrison, Michelle Elizabeth (2011). A Reference Grammar of Bena (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/70359.


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