Ki language

{{Short description|Southern Bantoid language spoken in Cameroon}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Ki

|nativename=Tuki

|states=Cameroon

|speakers=26,000

|date=1982

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Benue–Congo

|fam4=Southern Bantoid

|fam5=Mbam

|fam6=Sanaga

|iso3=bag

|glotto=tuki1240

|lc1=leo|ld1=Leti

|lc2=mct|ld2=Mengisa (duplicate code)

|glottorefname=Tuki

|guthrie=A.601 (ex-A.61,64), possibly also A.63

}}

The Ki language, Tuki (Baki, Oki), is a Southern Bantoid language of Cameroon. It is spoken by 26,000 people in the Central Province of Cameroon, in the Lekie division and in the Mbam and Kim division, along the Sanaga river.Biloa, E. (2013). Syntax of Tuki : A Cartographic Approach. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

The dialects are Kombe (Tukombe), Cenga (Tocenga), Tsinga (Tutsingo), Bundum, Njo (Tonjo), Ngoro (Tu Ngoro), Mbere (Tumvele) and possibly Leti/MengisaHammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices and Mbwasa.

Phonology

Tuki distinguishes six phonetic vowels. It distinguishes between long and short vowels.{{Cite thesis |title=Description phonologique du tuki (ati), langue Sanaga |url=https://orthographyclearinghouse.org/manuals/precisdOrthographepourlaLangueTuki.pdf |publisher=Université de Yaoundé |date=1974 |degree=masters |first=Jean-Jacques [Marie] |last=Essono |language=fr}}

class="wikitable" \|+Vowels ! !Front !Back
Close \|i \|u
Close-mid \|e \|o
Open-mid \| \|ɔ
Open \|a \|

class="wikitable"

|+Vowels

!Front

!Back

Close-mid

Open-mid

|ɔ

Open

The consonants are as follows.

class="wikitable" \|+Consonants ! colspan="2" \| !Bilabial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar/Glottal !Labiovelar
rowspan="3" \|Stop/Affricate !Voiceless \|p \|t \|t͡ʃ \|k \|k͡p
Voiced \|b \|d \|d͡ʒ \|g \|g͡b
Prenasalized \|ⁿb \|ⁿd \|ⁿd͡ʒ \|ⁿg \|ⁿg͡b
rowspan="2" \|Fricative !Voiceless \| \|s \| \|h \|
Voiced \|β \| \| \| \|
colspan="2" \|Nasal \|m \|n \|ɲ \|ŋ \|
colspan="2" \|Approximant \| \|ɾ \|j \| \|w

class="wikitable"

|+Consonants

! colspan="2" |

!Bilabial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar/Glottal

!Labiovelar

rowspan="3" |Stop/Affricate

!Voiceless

Voiced

Prenasalized

|ⁿd

|ⁿd͡ʒ

|ⁿg

|ⁿg͡b

rowspan="2" |Fricative

!Voiceless

Voiced

|β

colspan="2" |Nasal

|ɲ

|ŋ

colspan="2" |Approximant

|ɾ

Grammar

As in most Bantu languages, the noun consists of a class prefix and a stem. Verbs are conjugated for the noun class of the subject and object. The primary word order is SVO.{{Cite book |last=Biloa |first=Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FG8OAAAAYAAJ |title=Functional Categories and the Syntax of Focus in Tuki |publisher=Lincom Europa |year=1997 |isbn=9783929075496 |location=Munchen}}

References

Category:Mbam languages

Category:Languages of Cameroon