Bana language
| Bana | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Far North Region, Cameroon |
Native speakers | 23,000 (2007)[1] |
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bcw |
| Glottolog | bana1305 |
| ELP | Bana |
| Bana | |
|---|---|
| Language | koma kabana |
Bana is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon. Dialects include Gamboura and Gili.[1]
Bana is spoken in the canton of Guili, in the northern part of the commune of Bourrha (department of Mayo-Tsanaga, Far North Region). The speakers call their language koma kabana 'the language of the Bana'.[2]
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain | Labialized
|
Plain | Labialized
|
Plain | Labialized
| |||||
| Nasal | m | n |
ŋ | ŋʷ | ||||||
| Plosive | Voiceless
|
p | t |
k | kʷ | ʔ | ʔʷ | |||
Voiced
|
b | d |
ɡ | ɡʷ | ||||||
Prenasalized
|
ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡʷ | ||||||
| Implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ||||||||
| Affricate | Voiceless
|
ts | ||||||||
Voiced
|
dz | |||||||||
Prenasalized
|
ⁿdz | |||||||||
| Fricative | Voiceless
|
f | s | χ | χʷ | |||||
Voiced
|
v | z | ʁ | ʁʷ | ||||||
| Flap | ⱱ | ɾ | ||||||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||||
The vowels of Bana are /ɨ ə ɛ/, which can occur with high, falling, low, or rising tone. [3]
Notes
- ^ a b Bana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ISBN 9789956796069.
- ^ Hofmann, Erica (1990). A preliminary phonology of bana (MA thesis). University of Victoria.
References
- Hofmann, Erica (1990). A Preliminary Phonology of Bana (PDF) (M.A. thesis). University of Victoria. OCLC 27946722.
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