Lutos (Ruto) is a Central Sudanic language of CAR and Chad. Two distinctive dialects are Lutos/Ruto proper and Nduka.[2]
| Lutos | |
|---|---|
| Ruto | |
| Native to | Central African Republic, Chad |
Native speakers | (19,000 cited 1993–1996)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ndy |
| Glottolog | luto1241 |
Phonology
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | oral | p b | t d | k g | kp gb | |||
| nasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑg | ᵑᵐgb | ||||
| Implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ||||||
| Fricative | oral | f v | s z | h | ||||
| nasal | ᵐv | ⁿz | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||||
| Approximant | w | r, l | ɽ | j | ||||
- /s/ can sometimes be heard as [ʃ] syllable-finally.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː ũ ũː | |
| Mid-high | e ẽ | ə | o oː õ õː |
| Mid-low | ɛ | ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː | |
| Low | a aː ã ãː |
Additionally, there exists the diphthong /ua/. It cannot be lengthened nor nasalised.
Lutos has three tones: high, mid, low.[3]
References
edit- ^ Lutos at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ International Encyclopedia of Linguistics ed. William J. Frawley · 2003 p303 " In Central African Republic: 17,000 speakers in Nde ́le ́, Kaga Andoro, and Kabo subprefectures. Dialects are Nduka (Ndouka, Ndoukwa), Lutos (Ruto, Routo, Rito, Luto, Louto), Wada (Wad), Nduga (Ngougua), Konga."
- ^ a b c Olson, Kenneth S. (26 August 2013). A Sketch of Lutos Phonology. 43rd Colloquium on African Languages & Linguistics. Leiden.