Mangbetu language

Mangbetu, or Nemangbetu, is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages. It is spoken by the Mangbetu people of northeastern Congo. It, or its speakers, are also known as Amangbetu, Kingbetu, Mambetto. The most populous dialect, and the one most widely understood, is called Medje. Others are Aberu (Nabulu), Makere, Malele, Popoi (Mapopoi). The most divergent is Lombi; Ethnologue treats it as a distinct language. About half of the population speaks Bangala, a trade language similar to Lingala, and in southern areas some speak Swahili.

The Mangbetu live in association with the Asua, and their languages are closely related.

Mangbetu dialects and locations as listed by Demolin (1992):^[3]

• Mangbetu proper is spoken north of Isiro, in the subregion of Haut-Uele and north of the Bomokandi River. It is found in Nangazizi and Rungu in the collectivité of Azanga, Ganga in the collectivité of Okondo, Tapili in the collectivité of Mangbetu, Medanoma in the collectivité of Mangbele, in Ndei collectivité north of Isiro, and in Mboli collectivité near Goa.
• Medje (Mɛdʒɛ) is spoken south of Isiro, around Medje in Mongomassi and Medje collectivités, and also in the ethnic Mangbetu collectivités of Azanga and Ndei.
• Makere is spoken around Zobia in the subregion of Bas-Uele.
• Malele is spoken in Poko Territory^[4] - in the areas of Balele, Niapu, and Kisanga.
• Mapopoi is spoken in Panga and the Aruwimi River.
• Nabulu is spoken in Bafwasamoa, 15 km north of Nia-Nia.
• Lombi is spoken in Bafwasende Territory^[4] - in Barumbi around the Opienge River, and in Maiko National Park.

The vowels /a/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/, and /o/ can also be differentiated through quantity and be pronounced both long and short. There are also multiple rising diphthongs: /ai/, /au/, /ei/, /ɛɪ/, /oi/, /ɔɪ/, /ou/ and /ɔʊ/.^[5]

The description of the vowels of Mangbetu as constituting a system of tongue root harmony is conventional and should not be taken as a precise description of the phonetic character of the vowel system. The two sets of vowels are differentiated by the vertical movement of the larynx, among other articulatory factors.^[5] The system has also been described more loosely as having an opposition of tense (tendues) and lax (relâchées) vowels.^[6] Vowels in affixes assimilate to the "tongue root" quality of the vowels found in the root or stem of the word in question, with /a/, /ε/, /ɪ/, /ɔ/, /ʊ/ resulting in -ATR and /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ in +ATR vowels. However, /a/ can also be considered as an opaque element, because it can stop the vowel harmony from spreading such as in nɛ́ɛ́kábú ‘sadness’.^[5]

Retroflex consonants are slightly trilled as [ʈʳ], [ɖʳ], [ᶯɖʳ].^[5]

There is a distinction between high and low tones in Mangbetu, with multiple minimal pairs distinguished only by tone: náŋwɛ́ 'kola nut'-naŋwɛ́ 'moon'; nɛ́ɓà 'village'-nɛ́ɓá 'kind of tree'.^[5] Rising and falling tones might also be phonemic.^[5]

Mangbetu syllables are always open, with the shortest syllables consisting of just a vowel, and the longest consisting of a consonant, followed by a glide, followed by a vowel, or CGV.

One unusual feature of Mangbetu is that it has both a voiced and a voiceless bilabial trill as well as a labial flap.^[7][8]

[nóʙ̥ù] "to bring out"

[nóʙù] "to fan"

[nómʙù] "to enclose"

[nóⱱò] "to defecate"

[nóʙò] "to get fat"

The labial trills are not particularly associated with back vowels or prenasalization, pace their development in some American languages.^[9]

[éʙ̥ì] "leaping like a leopard"

[nɛʙàʙá] "kind of plan"

Mangbetu words are constructed through the use of various affixes attached to a lexical root. These roots typically consist of a consonant-vowel combination preceded by a ‘characteristic vowel.’. For example, the word ná-mutali, ‘fish,’ can be broken down into the segments ná-mu-t-a-li, containing the root -li, the characteristic vowel -a-, prefixes -t- and -mu-, and the singular marker ná-.^[6]

Tonal variation plays a significant role in the language’s morphology, particularly in differentiating singular and plural nouns. For example, in two-syllable words, these changes may involve tone inversion, as in nɛ́gɔ̀ (‘bed’) and ɛ́gɔ̀ (‘beds’), or modification of the second tone, as in nári (‘bird’) and ári (‘birds’). Although, it is also possible for the plural form of a word to have the same tonal pattern as the singular.^[6]

Larochette notes that Mangbetu differentiates between three levels of temporal proximity in its Past and Future tenses: recent, moderately recent, and remote.^[6] He also writes of a Present-Intensive tense, which marks the intensity of a present action.^[6]