Ngwii language
| Ngwii | |
|---|---|
| Ngul | |
| Native to | DRC |
Native speakers | 8,000[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nlo |
| Glottolog | ngul1247 |
Ngwii or Ngul is a Bantu language spoken in the Kwilu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Despite having a relatively small speech community, use of the language is prevalent.[1]
Phonology
Ngwii has 37 consonants and 7 vowels:[2]
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Labiovelar | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | plain | p, b | d, t | k | |||||
| prenasalized | ᵐb, ᵐp | ⁿd, ⁿt | ᵑk, ᵑg | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Fricative | plain | f, v | s | ʃ, ʒ | ʁ | ||||
| prenasalized | ᵐf, ᵐv | ||||||||
| Affricative | plain | p͡f | t͡s, d͡z | t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ | |||||
| prenasalized | ᵐp͡f | ⁿt͡s, ⁿd͡z | ⁿt͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ | ||||||
| Approximant | w | j | |||||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid-high | ɤ | ||
| Mid/Mid-low | e [ɛ] | ə | o [ɔ] |
| Low | a |
Numerals
Like other Niger-Congo languages, Ngwii has a base ten counting system where numbers after ten use the conjunction "ni" to add another number to reach higher values.
The first 20 numerals in Ngwii are[3]
- mo
- ipe
- isar
- ini
- itɛan
- isom
- sjambja
- ɲani
- ɲa
- dzum
- dzum ni mo
- dzum ni pe
- dzum ni sar
- dzum ni ni
- dzum ni tjan
- dzum ni som
- dzum ni sjambja
- dzum ni ɲani
- dzum ni iwaj
- dzum na dzum
References
- ^ a b "Ngul". Ethnologue. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ Pacchiarotti, Sara; Maselli, Lorenzo; Bostoen, Koen (2021). "The emergence of interior vowels and heterosyllabic vowel sequences in Ngwi". Papers in Historical Phonology. 6: 4. doi:10.2218/pihph.6.2021.6693. hdl:1854/LU-8732612. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ "Numeral system of the world's languages". Retrieved 5 October 2023.