Tongwe (Sitongwe) and Bende (Sibende) constitute a clade of Bantu languages coded Zone F.10 in Guthrie's classification. According to Nurse & Philippson (2003),[3] they form a valid node. Indeed, at 90% lexical similarity they may be dialects of a single language.
| Tongwe | |
|---|---|
| Bende | |
| Native to | Tanzania |
Native speakers | (40,000 cited 1999–2001)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:tny – Tongwebdp – Bende |
| Glottolog | tong1320 Tongwebend1258 Bende |
F.10 (F.11–12)[2] | |
| ELP | Bende |
Phonology
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | c ɟ | k g | |
| Fricative | f | s z | h | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Approximant | w | j |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Low | a ã aː |
Additionally, Bende has four tones;[4] high, low, rising, and falling.
References
edit- ^ Tongwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Bende at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Nurse, Derek; Philippson, Gérard, eds. (2003). The Bantu languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780700711345.
- ^ a b c Abe, Yuko (2006). "A Bende Vocabulary". Bantu Vocabulary Series (13). Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
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