Tetela language
Bantu language of the DR Congo
Tetela | |
---|---|
Ɔtɛtɛla | |
Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Region | Northern Kasai Oriental Province |
Ethnicity | Tetela people |
Native speakers
|
(760,000 cited 1991) [1] |
Niger–Congo
?
|
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
Either:
tll
–
Tetela
hba
–
Hamba
|
Glottolog |
tete1250
Tetela
hamb1245
Hamba
|
C.71
[2]
|
Tetela (Otetela, Kitetela, Kikitatela), also Sungu , is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo . It is spoken by the Tetela people .
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive
/
Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | |
voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ( ɡ ) | ||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | |
voiced | v | |||||
prenasal | ᶬv | |||||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | j | w |
- [ɡ] is heard as an allophone of /k/ in intervocalic positions. [3]
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Close-mid | e | o | |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Noun classes
Like other Bantu languages , Tetela grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes . The ancestral system had 22 classes (counting singular and plural as distinct according to the Meinhof system ), with most Bantu languages sharing at least ten of them.
-
-
class semantics prefix singular translation plural translation 1, 2 persons o-/ɔ-/w-, a- omfúnjí scribe, secretary amfúnjí scribes, secretaries 3, 4 trees, etc o-/ɔ-/w-, e-/ɛ- ojja place ejja places; region 5, 6 various di-/dy-, a- dihamvú fruit of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum ahamvú fruits of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum 7, 8 various ke-/e-, di-/dy- kesashi chief disashi chiefs 9, 10 animals, etc Ø-/N-, Ø-/N- mbódí goat mbódí goats 11, 10 abstract concepts, etc lo-, N- lolémí language némí languages 12, 13 various ka-/k-, to-/t- kashikɛ helmet (from French casque ) toshikɛ helmets 19, 13 various °i- (complex morphology), to-/t- jɔ́ndɔ́ ??? tɔlɔ́ndɔ́ ???
-
References
-
↑
Tetela
at
Ethnologue
(18th ed., 2015)
(subscription required)
Hamba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ↑ Kamomba, Michel Wetshemongo (2020). Parler, lire et écrire la langue bantoue otetela . L'Harmattan.
Relevant literature
- Elysee Meta Okubo. 2016. A COLLECTION OF 100 TETELA PROVERBS. Proverb website
- Mukanga, Ndjeka Elizabeth, Empenge Albert Shefu, Ambaye Albertine Tshefu. 2020. Great Collection of Tetela Proverbs on the African Wisdom . Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishers. [283 proverbs, 107 pages]
Official language | |
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National languages | |
Indigenous
languages (by province ) |
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Sign languages |
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Note: The
Guthrie classification
is geographic and its groupings do not imply a relationship between the languages within them.
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National | |
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Other |
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