Aka is spoken by the Aka people, pygmies closely related to the Ubangian-speaking Baka of Cameroon, Congo and Gabon. Together, these peoples are known as the Mbenga (Bambenga) or Binga (Babinga), the latter derogatory.
Famously, Aka shares vocabulary with the Baka languages, mostly concerning a specialised forest economy, such as words for edible plants, medicinal plants and honey collecting. This is among the 30% of Aka which is not Bantu and the 30% of Baka which is not Ubangian and has been posited as the remnant of an ancestral Western Pygmy (Mbenga or "Baaka") language which has otherwise vanished.[3] However, it is entirely possible that the Aka shifted to Bantu from a Ubangian language related to Baka, in which case the situation reduces to a single ethnic group adapted to the forest with correspondingly specialised vocabulary. There is no evidence for a wider linguistic affiliation with any of the other Pygmy peoples.[4]
The Aka people call themselves Mraka in the singular and Beka in the plural. The people and their language go by various alternate spellings: Mò-Áka, Moyaka, Bayaka, Yaga, Bayaga, Gbayaka, Biaka, Beká, Yakwa, Yakpa, Yakpwa, Nyoyaka. The western Aka are known as the Benzele (Mbenzélé, Babenzélé, Bambenzele, Ba-Benjelle), and the eastern Aka as the Sese (Basese). These might be distinct dialects; Nzari might be another.
^Serge Bahuchet, 1993, History of the inhabitants of the central African rain forest: perspectives from comparative linguistics. In C.M. Hladik, ed., Tropical forests, people, and food: Biocultural interactions and applications to development. Paris: Unesco/Parthenon.
^Duke, Daniel Joseph (2001). Aka as a Contact Language: Sociolinguistic and Grammatical Evidence. University of Texas.
^Serge Bahuchet, 1993, History of the inhabitants of the central African rain forest: perspectives from comparative linguistics. In C.M. Hladik, ed., Tropical forests, people, and food: Biocultural interactions and applications to development. Paris: Unesco/Parthenon.
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language, this, article, about, language, spoken, central, african, republic, other, uses, disambiguation, also, known, yaka, beka, bantu, language, spoken, central, african, republic, republic, congo, along, ubangi, river, dividing, countries, akayakanative, . This article is about the language spoken in the Central African Republic For other uses see Aka language disambiguation Aka also known as Yaka or Beka is a Bantu language spoken in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo along the Ubangi River dividing the two countries AkaYakaNative toCentral African Republic Republic of CongoEthnicityAka peopleNative speakers 30 000 cited 1986 1996 1 Language familyNiger Congo Atlantic CongoBenue CongoBantoidBantu Zone C 10 Ngondi NgiriAkaLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code axk class extiw title iso639 3 axk axk a Glottologyaka1272Guthrie codeC 104 2 ELPYakaAka is spoken by the Aka people pygmies closely related to the Ubangian speaking Baka of Cameroon Congo and Gabon Together these peoples are known as the Mbenga Bambenga or Binga Babinga the latter derogatory Famously Aka shares vocabulary with the Baka languages mostly concerning a specialised forest economy such as words for edible plants medicinal plants and honey collecting This is among the 30 of Aka which is not Bantu and the 30 of Baka which is not Ubangian and has been posited as the remnant of an ancestral Western Pygmy Mbenga or Baaka language which has otherwise vanished 3 However it is entirely possible that the Aka shifted to Bantu from a Ubangian language related to Baka in which case the situation reduces to a single ethnic group adapted to the forest with correspondingly specialised vocabulary There is no evidence for a wider linguistic affiliation with any of the other Pygmy peoples 4 The Aka people call themselves Mraka in the singular and Beka in the plural The people and their language go by various alternate spellings Mo Aka Moyaka Bayaka Yaga Bayaga Gbayaka Biaka Beka Yakwa Yakpa Yakpwa Nyoyaka The western Aka are known as the Benzele Mbenzele Babenzele Bambenzele Ba Benjelle and the eastern Aka as the Sese Basese These might be distinct dialects Nzari might be another Mikaya LumaNative toGabonEthnicityMikaya BalumaLanguage familyNiger Congo Ngondi NgiriMikaya LumaLanguage codesISO 639 3None mis Glottologmika1256Guthrie codenone 2 Pygmies of northern Gabon called the Mikaya and Luma are evidently either Aka or speak a language closely related to Aka Contents 1 Phonology 1 1 Consonants 1 2 Vowels 2 Specialized forest vocabulary 3 Literature 4 ReferencesPhonology editConsonants edit Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio velar GlottalNasal m nPlosive Affricate plain p t k k pvoiced b d d ʒ ɡ ɡ bprenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ⁿd ʒ ᵑɡ ᵑᵐɡ bimplosive ɓ ɗFricative plain ɸ s hvoiced bLateral lSemivowel j wVowels edit Front Central BackClose i uClose mid e oOpen mid ɛ ɔOpen a 5 Specialized forest vocabulary editSome vocabulary with nearby Baka 6 Meaning Baka AkaDioscorea semperflorens ʔesuma esumaFruits of Dioscorea belebo eleboYam borer stick bondunga ndongaMale or old elephant kamba kambaElephant tracks ʔepunda epundaNotched flute for hunting ritual mobiɔ mobiɔ Trigona beccari a stingless bee pɛ ndɛ vɛ ndɛ Queen bee ɲabɔ mɛ ebɔ mɛ Pollen kinda kindaHoneyguide kpangaadandu kpangbaDialium pachyphyllum mbaso mbasɔ Literature editSerge Bahuchet 2012 Changing Language Remaining Pygmy Human Biology Vol 84 Iss 1 Article 9 References edit Aka at Ethnologue 18th ed 2015 subscription required a b Jouni Filip Maho 2009 New Updated Guthrie List Online Serge Bahuchet 1993 History of the inhabitants of the central African rain forest perspectives from comparative linguistics In C M Hladik ed Tropical forests people and food Biocultural interactions and applications to development Paris Unesco Parthenon Blench in press Duke Daniel Joseph 2001 Aka as a Contact Language Sociolinguistic and Grammatical Evidence University of Texas Serge Bahuchet 1993 History of the inhabitants of the central African rain forest perspectives from comparative linguistics In C M Hladik ed Tropical forests people and food Biocultural interactions and applications to development Paris Unesco Parthenon nbsp This Bantu language related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This Republic of the Congo related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This Central African Republic related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aka language amp oldid 1211393890, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
