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Mono language (Congo)

{{Short description|Banda language of DR Congo}}

{{Other uses|Mono language (disambiguation){{!}}Mono language}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Mono

|states=Democratic Republic of the Congo

|region=Northwestern corner of Congo (DRC)

|speakers=65,000

|date=1984 census

|ref = e18

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam1=Niger–Congo?

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Volta–Congo

|fam4=Savanna?

|fam5=Ubangian

|fam6=Banda

|fam7=Central Banda

|fam8=Mid-Southern

|iso3=mnh

|glotto=mono1270

|glottorefname=Mono (Democratic Republic of Congo)

|notice=IPA

}}

Mono is an indigenous language spoken by about 65,000 people[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mnh Ethnologue report for Mono] in the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of the Banda languages, a subbranch of the Ubangian branch of the Niger–Congo languages. It has five dialects: Bili, Bubanda, Mpaka, Galaba, and Kaga.

Phonology

Mono has 33 consonant phonemes, including three labial-velar stops ({{IPA|/k͡p/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ͡b/}}, and prenasalized {{IPA|/ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b/}}), an asymmetrical eight-vowel system, and a labiodental flap {{IPA|/ⱱ/}} (allophonically a bilabial flap {{IPA|[ⱱ̟]}}) that contrasts with both {{IPA|/v/}} and {{IPA|/w/}}. It is a tonal language.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Consonants

! colspan="2" |

!Labial

!Alveolar

!Post-alv./
Palatal

!Velar

!Labial-
Velar

!Glottal

colspan="2" |Nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}} {{angbr|m}}

| {{IPAlink|n}} {{angbr|n}}

| {{IPAlink|ɲ}} {{angbr|ny}}

|

|

|

rowspan="4" |Plosive/
Affricate

!{{small|Voiceless}}

| {{IPAlink|p}} {{angbr|p}}

| {{IPAlink|t}} {{angbr|t}}

| {{IPAlink|tʃ}} {{angbr|tsh}}

| {{IPAlink|k}} {{angbr|k}}

| {{IPAlink|k͡p}} {{angbr|kp}}

| {{IPAlink|ʔ}} {{angbr|'}}

{{small|Voiced}}

| {{IPAlink|b}} {{angbr|b}}

| {{IPAlink|d}} {{angbr|d}}

| {{IPAlink|dʒ}} {{angbr|dj}}

| {{IPAlink|g}} {{angbr|g}}

| {{IPAlink|ɡ͡b}} {{angbr|gb}}

|

{{small|Prenasalized}}

| {{IPAlink|ᵐb}} {{angbr|mb}}

| {{IPAlink|ⁿd}} {{angbr|nd}}

| {{IPAlink|ⁿdʒ}} {{angbr|ndj}}

| {{IPAlink|ᵑɡ}} {{angbr|ng}}

| {{IPAlink|ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b}} {{angbr|ngb}}

|

{{small|Implosive}}

| {{IPAlink|ɓ}} {{angbr|'b}}

| {{IPAlink|ɗ}} {{angbr|'d}}

|

|

|

|

rowspan="2" |Fricative

!{{small|Voiceless}}

| {{IPAlink|f}} {{angbr|f}}

| {{IPAlink|s}} {{angbr|s}}

| {{IPAlink|ʃ}} {{angbr|sh}}

|

|

| {{IPAlink|h}} {{angbr|h}}

{{small|Voiced}}

| {{IPAlink|v}} {{angbr|v}}

| {{IPAlink|z}} {{angbr|z}}

| {{IPAlink|ʒ}} {{angbr|j}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Trill/Tap

| {{IPAlink|ⱱ}} ~ {{IPAlink|ⱱ̟}} {{angbr|vw}}

| {{IPAlink|r}} {{angbr|r}}

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Approximant

|

| {{IPAlink|l}} {{angbr|l}}

| {{IPAlink|j}} {{angbr|y}}

|

| {{IPAlink|w}} {{angbr|w}}

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Vowels

!

! Front

! Central

! Back

Close

| {{IPAlink|i}} {{angbr|i}}

| {{IPAlink|ɨ}} {{angbr|ɨ}}

| {{IPAlink|u}} {{angbr|u}}

Close-mid

| {{IPAlink|e}} {{angbr|e}}

| rowspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ə}} {{angbr|œ}}

| {{IPAlink|o}} {{angbr|o}}

Open-mid

|

| {{IPAlink|ɔ}} {{angbr|ɔ}}

Open

|

| {{IPAlink|a}} {{angbr|a}}

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+TonesOlson, Kenneth S. 2004

!

! High

! Mid

! Low

IPA

| ˥ {{angbr|á}}

| ˧ {{angbr|ā}}

| ˩ {{angbr|à}}

Transcription

| á

| a

| à

Example

| áwá {{angbr|áwá}}

| āwā {{angbr|awa}}

| àwà {{angbr|àwà}}

English Meaning

| "diarrhea"

| "road"

| "fear"

Sample text

The North Wind and the Sun text was translated into Mono by Gaspard Yalemoto Suma, Marie Sungayase Yalemoto, Kilio Mapuya and Ama Geangozo. The translation is based on the French version of the text found in Fougeron & Smith (1993). The text was read by a male native speaker of Mono, about 35 years old. The individual words illustrating the various sounds were read by a male native speaker of Mono, about 40 years old.{{Cite journal |last=Olson |first=Kenneth S. |date=December 2004 |title=Mono |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/mono/B3CB1C1D5D4BB4A6D709414E794555E3#appTabs |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=233–238 |doi=10.1017/S0025100304001744 |issn=1475-3502}}

Ayigu endje dœ ɔlɔ pa lima gbarama. Uzu dœ uzu pa lima adeke, œnœ da sœ dœ gbɔgbɔ kœdo pa nœ. Lɔkɔ endje wu anga gene bale a tshe dje lœba ɨzɨ gatœ ɨgɨ ye. Kœndo dœ endje, endje tɔ adeke uzu a tshé kàkara lœba tœ ɨgɨ ye da sœ gbɔgbɔ kœro pa nœ. Tœrale yigu na kpɨ, kpɨ, kpɨ, kpɨ. Kpɨ, kpɨ, kpɨ gba, gene nœ kpa soro lœba nœ gatœ ye. Œrrrœ yigu Totoro kœkakara tœ ɨgɨ ye. Manda nœ, ɔlɔ kpa tɔ vwege, vwege, vwege, Osho wo tœ gene. Tshe vwara lœba nœ tœ ɨgɨ ye. Yigu wu atamœ, œ yi ndœ nœ adeke ɔlɔ do pa nœ dœ gbɔgbɔ.

References

  • Kamanda-Kola, Roger. 2003. Phonologie et morpho-syntaxe du mono: Langue oubanguienne du Congo R.D. (LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 60). Munich: LINCOM EUROPA.
  • {{citation

|last=Olson

|first=Kenneth S.

|year=2004

|title=Mono

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=34

|issue=2

|pages=233–238

|doi=10.1017/S0025100304001744

|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/B3CB1C1D5D4BB4A6D709414E794555E3/S0025100304001744a.pdf/mono.pdf

|doi-access=free

}}

  • Olson, Kenneth S. 2005. The phonology of Mono (SIL International and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics 140). Dallas: SIL & UTA.
  • Olson, Kenneth S. & Brian E. Schrag. 2000. 'An overview of Mono phonology'. In H. Ekkehard Wolff & Orin Gensler (eds.), Proceedings from the 2nd World Congress of African Linguistics, Leipzig 1997, 393–409. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.

External links

  • [http://www.sil.org/sil/news/2005/labiodental_flap.htm SIL article] on new phonetic symbol for labiodental flap

{{Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}

{{Ubangian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mono Language (Congo)}}

Category:Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Category:Banda languages

{{Ubangian-lang-stub}}