Vili language
{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in Central Africa}}
{{distinguish|Ibhili language{{!}}Vili (Ibhili)}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Vili
|nativename=CiviliCivili is pronounced Tchivili and can also be pronounced Tshivili.
|states=Republic of the Congo, Gabon
|speakers=100,000
|date=2000
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=Atlantic–Congo
|fam3=Benue–Congo
|fam4=Bantoid
|fam6=Kongo (Kikongo, H.10)
|iso3=vif
|guthrie=H.12
|glotto=vili1238
|glottorefname=Vili
}}
Vili (Civili) is one of the Zone H Bantu languages, grouped with the Kongo clade.
The language has a few thousand native speakers spread along the coast between southern Gabon and Cabinda, most of them in the Republic of the Congo's Kouilou, Pointe-Noire and Niari departments.
The Vili people (singular Muvili, plural Bavili) were the population of the 17th- to 18th-century Kingdom of Loango in the same region.
Phonology
= Consonants =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" | |
| colspan="2" |Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | {{IPA link|ɲ}} | |
|---|
| rowspan="4" |Plosive/ Affricate !voiceless | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} | {{IPA link|k}} |
| voiced
| {{IPA link|b}} | {{IPA link|d}} | {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} | {{IPA link|ɡ}} |
| prenasal vl.
| {{IPA link|ᵐp}} | {{IPA link|ⁿt}} | {{IPA link|ᶮt͡ʃ}} | {{IPA link|ᵑk}} |
| prenasal vd.
| {{IPA link|ᵐb}} | {{IPA link|ⁿd}} | {{IPA link|ᶮd͡ʒ}} | {{IPA link|ᵑɡ}} |
| rowspan="4" |Fricative
!voiceless | {{IPA link|f}} | {{IPA link|s}} | | |
| voiced
| {{IPA link|v}} | {{IPA link|z}} | | |
| prenasal vl.
| {{IPA link|ᶬf}} | {{IPA link|ⁿs}} | | |
| prenasal vd.
| {{IPA link|ᶬv}} | {{IPA link|ⁿz}} | | |
| colspan="2" |Rhotic
| |{{IPA link|r}} | | |
| colspan="2" |Approximant
| {{IPA link|w}} | {{IPA link|l}} | {{IPA link|j}} | |
Consonants may also be labialized [ʷ] when preceding /w/.{{Cite book |last=Loëmbe |first=Gervais |title=Parlons vili: langue et culture de Loango |publisher=Paris: L'Harmattan |year=2005}}{{Cite book |last=Tele-Pemba |first=Audrey Mariette |title=Éléments pour une approche comparée des emprunts lexicaux du civili du Gabon, du Congo-Brazzaville et du Cabinda: proposition d'un modèle de dictionnaire |publisher=Libreville: Université Omar Bongo |year=2009}}
= Vowels =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! !Back |
| Close
| {{IPAlink|i}} {{IPAlink|iː}} | | {{IPAlink|u}} {{IPAlink|uː}} |
|---|
| Close-mid
| {{IPA link|e}} {{IPAlink|eː}} | rowspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ə}} | {{IPA link|o}} {{IPAlink|oː}} |
| Open-mid
| {{IPAlink|ɛ}} {{IPAlink|ɛː}} | {{IPAlink|ɔ}} {{IPAlink|ɔː}} |
| Open
| | {{IPAlink|a}} {{IPAlink|aː}} | |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=vili+language Vili] at WolframAlpha
{{Languages of the Republic of the Congo}}
{{Languages of Gabon}}
{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Languages of the Republic of the Congo
{{Bantu-lang-stub}}