North Teke language

Summary

North Teke, or Tɛgɛ (Tege, Teghe, Itege), is a member of the Teke languages dialect continuum of the Congolese plateau.

North Teke
Tɛgɛ
Native toCongo, Gabon
Native speakers
140,000 (2000–2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3teg
Glottologteke1275
B.71[2]

Phonology edit

Consonants edit

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
prenasal vl. ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk
prenasal vd. ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Affricate voiceless p͡f t͡s t͡ʃ
voiced b͡v (d͡z) d͡ʒ
prenasal vl. ᶬp͡f (ⁿt͡s) ⁿt͡ʃ
prenasal vd. (ⁿd͡z) ⁿd͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ
voiced v (ɣ)
prenasal vl. ᶬf
prenasal vd. ᶬv
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Rhotic tap ɾ
trill r
Approximant w l j
  • /b/ can also be heard as [ɓ] in free variation.
  • /ɡ/ can be heard as [ɣ] when in between vowels.[3]
  • Sounds /d͡ʒ, ⁿt͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ/ can also be heard as alveolar [d͡z, ⁿt͡s, ⁿd͡z] in free variation.
  • The following sounds can be labialized as [bʷ, kʷ, fʷ, sʷ, d͡zʷ, ɲʷ, lʷ, mʷ, ᵐbʷ, ⁿt͡ʃʷ, ⁿd͡ʒʷ, ᵑkʷ, ᵑɡʷ].
  • The labialized sounds /kʷ, ᵑkʷ/ can also be heard as [ᵑk͡p, ᵑk͡p].
  • The following sounds can be palatalized as [pʲ, bʲ, kʲ, fʲ, sʲ, t͡sʲ, lʲ, mʲ, ᵐpʲ, ᵐbʲ, ⁿt͡ʃʲ].

Vowels edit

Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
  • Sounds /i, a, u/ can be heard as [ɪ, ə, ʊ] in lax position.[4]

Alphabet edit

North Teke alphabet[5]
Uppercase A B D DZ E F G I K L M N NY Ŋ O P PF R S T TS U V W Y
Lowercase a b d dz e f g i k l m n ny ŋ o p pf r s t ts u v w y

References edit

  1. ^ North Teke at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Tsoue, Pamela C. (2017). Etude des marqueurs verbaux du lètὲɣὲ: langue bantu parlee au Gabon (B71a). Université François Rabelais de Tours.
  4. ^ Linton, Pauline (2016). L’Orthographe du Latege.
  5. ^ Linton 2013.

Works cited edit

  • Linton, Pauline (2013). "L'alphabet latege". Dictionnaire latege.