Vute language
Vute | |
---|---|
Native to | Cameroon |
Native speakers | (21,000 cited 1997)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | vut |
Glottolog | vute1244 |
Vute is a Mambiloid language of Cameroon and Gabon, with a thousand speakers in Nigeria. The orthography was standardized on March 9, 1979.[2] Noted dialect clusters are eastern, central, and Doume.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]Consonants in Vute are numerous and include pulmonic and implosive airstreams. Labialization is phonemic in many consonants, some of which is dialectal.
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial– velar | Glottal | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | lab.[a] | plain | lab.[a] | plain | lab.[a] | plain | lab. | plain | lab.[a] | ||||
Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | mʷ ⟨mw⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩ | ||||||||
Implosive | ɓ ⟨ɓ⟩ | ɓʷ ⟨ɓw⟩ | ɗ ⟨ɗ⟩ | ɗʷ ⟨ɗw⟩[b] | |||||||||
Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨c⟩ | t͡ʃʷ ⟨cw⟩[c] | k ⟨k⟩ | kʷ ⟨kw⟩ | k͡p ⟨kp⟩ | |||||
voiced | b[d]⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩ | d͡ʒʷ ⟨jw⟩[c] | g[e]⟨g⟩ | gʷ ⟨gw⟩ | ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩ | ||||||
prenasalized | ᵐb ⟨mb⟩ | ⁿd ⟨nd⟩ | ⁿdʷ ⟨ndw⟩[c] | ⁿd͡ʒ ⟨nj⟩[f] | ᵑg ⟨ŋg⟩ | ᵑgʷ ⟨ŋgw⟩ | ᵑᵐɡ͡b ⟨mgb⟩[f] | ||||||
Fricative | voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ | fʷ ⟨fw⟩[b] | s ⟨s⟩ | sʷ ⟨sw⟩[c] | h ⟨h⟩ | hʷ ⟨hw⟩[g] | ||||||
voiced | v ⟨v⟩ | ||||||||||||
prenasalized | ᶬv ⟨mv⟩[f] | ||||||||||||
Rhotic | (ɾ~r)[h] | ||||||||||||
Approximant | l ⟨l⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ |
- ^ a b c d Only vowels /i/ /e/ /a/ may follow a labialized consonant.
- ^ a b Doume dialect only.
- ^ a b c d Doume and eastern dialects only.
- ^ becomes a fricative [β] intervocalically. [ŋgáb] "they" -> [ŋgáβè] "their"
- ^ becomes a fricative [ɣ] intervocalically. [ɡè nɨ] "to carry" -> [ɲdʒɨ̀ɨ̀ɣɨ̀βɨ̀] "of leprosy"
- ^ a b c Low frequency[4]
- ^ Central dialects only
- ^ initially: [leè] "wall ; intervocalically: [tòɾò] "papaya' ; finally: [bɨ́r] "oil palm tree"
There are more phonemic tones than are marked in orthography, such as mid-high rising tone and mid tone being both unmarked ⟨a⟩ for example. Phonologically conditioned downstep is unmarked.
Tone Category | IPA | Orthography | Example | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|---|
high tone | ˦ | á, áá | tím | blood |
mid tone | ˧ | a, aa | məb | louse |
low tone | ˨ | à, àà | tɨ̀mnɨ | to drown |
mid-high | ˧˥ | a, aá | tɨm | antelope |
low-high* | ˩˥ | à | ɓùn | grass |
high-low | ˥˩ | â, áà | bɨ̂ŋ | round, complete |
high-mid | ˥˧ | â, áa | mîn | good |
high-low-high | ˥˩˦ | âá | sîím | rainy season |
*Only in eastern dialects, on short vowels. All other dialects merge this class with low tone.
Oral | Nasal | ||
---|---|---|---|
Long | Short | Long | Short |
[iː] ii | [i~ɪ] i | [ĩː] i̧i̧ | [ĩ] i̧ |
[eː] ee | [e~ɛ] e | [ɛ̃ː] ȩȩ | [ɛ̃] ȩ |
[ɨː] ɨɨ | [ɨ] ɨ | [ɨ̃ː] ɨ̧ɨ̧ | [ɨ̃] ɨ̧ |
[əː] əə | [ə] ə | [ə̃ː] ə̧ə̧ | [ə̃] ə̧ |
[aː] aa | [a] a | [ãː] a̧a̧ | [ã] a̧ |
[uː] uu | [u~ʊ] u | [ũː] u̧u̧ | [ũ] u̧ |
[oː] oo | [o~ɔ] o | [õː] o̧o̧ | [õ] o̧ |
[ɔː] ɔɔ | [ɔ] ɔ | [ɔ̃ː] ɔ̧ɔ̧ | [ɔ̃] ɔ̧ |
[ei] ei | [ẽĩ] ȩi̧ | ||
[ai] ai | [ãĩ] a̧i̧ | ||
[ɨi] ɨi | [ɨ̃ĩ] ɨ̧i̧ | ||
[əi] əi | [ə̃ĩ] ə̧i̧ | ||
[oi] oi | [õĩ] o̧i̧ |
References
[edit]- ^ Vute at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d Thwing, Rhonda (2004) [1981]. "Vute Orthography Statement" (PDF). General Alphabet of Cameroonian Languages.
- ^ a b Thwing, Rhonda Ann (1987). The Vute Noun Phrase and the Relationship Between Vute and Bantu (Cameroon). Ann Arbor: UMI.
- ^ "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2020-02-01.