Mangbetu language

Not to be confused with Mangbutu language.

Mangbetu, or Nemangbetu, is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages. It is spoken by the Mangbetu people of northeastern Congo. It, or its speakers, are also known as Amangbetu, Kingbetu, Mambetto. The most populous dialect, and the one most widely understood, is called Medje. Others are Aberu (Nabulu), Makere, Malele, Popoi (Mapopoi). The most divergent is Lombi; Ethnologue treats it as a distinct language. About half of the population speaks Bangala, a trade language similar to Lingala, and in southern areas some speak Swahili.

Mangbetu
Nemangbetu
Region	Congo (DRC)
Ethnicity	Mangbetu people
Native speakers	(650,000 Mangbetu proper cited 1985)^[1] Lombi: 12,000 (1993)^[2]
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Central Sudanic Eastern Mangbetu–Asoa Mangbetu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: mdj – Mangbetu lmi – Lombi
Glottolog	mang1394  Mangbetu lomb1254  Lombi

The Mangbetu live in association with the Asua Pygmies, and their languages are closely related.

Dialects

Mangbetu dialects and locations as listed by Demolin (1992):^[3]

• Mangbetu proper is spoken north of Isiro, in the subregion of Haut-Uele and north of the Bomokandi River. It is found in Nangazizi and Rungu in the collectivité of Azanga, Ganga in the collectivité of Okondo, Tapili in the collectivité of Mangbetu, Medanoma in the collectivité of Mangbele, in Ndei collectivité north of Isiro, and in Mboli collectivité near Goa.
• Medje (Mɛdʒɛ) is spoken south of Isiro, around Medje in Mongomassi and Medje collectivités, and also in the ethnic Mangbetu collectivités of Azanga and Ndei.
• Makere is spoken around Zobia in the subregion of Bas-Uele.
• Malele is spoken in Poko Territory^[4] - in the areas of Balele, Niapu, and Kisanga.
• Mapopoi is spoken in Panga and the Aruwimi River.
• Nabulu is spoken in Bafwasamoa, 15 km north of Nia-Nia.
• Lombi is spoken in Bafwasende Territory^[4] - in Barumbi around the Opienge River, and in Maiko National Park.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	+ATR	-ATR	+ATR	-ATR	+ATR	-ATR
Close	i	ɪ			u	ʊ
Mid	e	ɛ			o	ɔ
Open			a	a

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Postalv./ Palatal	Velar	Labial- velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ʈʳ	t͡ʃ	k	k͡p	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	ɖʳ	d͡ʒ	g	ɡ͡b
	prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶯɖʳ		ᵑɡ	ᵑᵐɡ͡b
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ		ʄ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s					h
	voiced	v	z
	prenasalized	ᶬv	ⁿz
Trill	voiceless	ʙ̥
	voiced	ʙ
	prenasalized	ᵐʙ
Tap		ⱱ
Approximant			l		j		w

Retroflex consonants are slightly trilled as [ʈʳ], [ɖʳ], [ᶯɖʳ].^[5]

Other Features

One unusual feature of Mangbetu is that it has both a voiced and a voiceless bilabial trill as well as a labial flap.^[6][7]

[nóʙ̥ù] "to bring out"

[nóʙù] "to fan"

[nómʙù] "to enclose"

[nóⱱò] "to defecate"

[nóʙò] "to get fat"

The labial trills are not particularly associated with back vowels or prenasalization, pace their development in some American languages.^[8]

[éʙ̥ì] "leaping like a leopard"

[nɛʙàʙá] "kind of plan"

References

1. Mangbetu at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).
   Lombi at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).
2. Lombi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
3. Demolin, Didier. 1992. Le Mangbetu: etude phonétique et phonologique, 2 vols. Brussels: Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres, Université libre de Bruxelles dissertation.
4. Bokula, Moiso & Agozia-Kario Irumu. 1994. Bibliographie et matériaux lexicaux des langues Moru-Mangbetu (Soudan-Central, Zaïre). Annales Aequatoria 10: 203‒245.
5. Demolin, Didier (1991). L'analyse des segments, de la syllabe et des tons dans un jeu de langage mangbetu. Armand Colin, Langages No. 101, Les javanais (MARS 91). pp. 30–50.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
6. Linguist Wins Symbolic Victory for 'Labiodental Flap'. NPR (2005-12-17). Retrieved on 2010-12-08.
7. LINGUIST List 8.45: Bilabial trill. Linguistlist.org. Retrieved on 2010-12-08.
8. Olson & Koogibho (2013) "Labial vibrants in Mangbetu"