Tetela (Otetela, Kitetela, Kikitatela), also Sungu, is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is spoken by the Tetela people.
Phonology
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalNasalPlosive/Affricatevoicelessvoiced()prenasalFricativevoicelessvoicedprenasalLateralApproximant
[ɡ] is heard as an allophone of /k/ in intervocalic positions.
Vowels FrontCentralBackCloseClose-midOpen-midOpen
Noun classes Like other Bantu languages, Tetela grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes. The ancestral system had 22 classes (counting singular and plural as distinct according to the Meinhof system), with most Bantu languages sharing at least ten of them.
{| class=wikitable !class!!semantics!!prefix!!singular!!translation!!plural!!translation |- !1, 2 | persons | o-/ɔ-/w-, a- || omfúnjí || scribe, secretary || amfúnjí || scribes, secretaries |- !3, 4 | trees, etc | o-/ɔ-/w-, e-/ɛ- || ojja || place || ejja || places; region |- !5, 6 | various | di-/dy-, a- || dihamvú || fruit of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum || ahamvú || fruits of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum |- !7, 8 | various | ke-/e-, di-/dy- || kesashi || chief || disashi || chiefs |- ! 9, 10 |animals, etc | Ø-/N-, Ø-/N- || mbódí || goat || mbódí || goats |- ! 11, 10 | abstract concepts, etc | lo-, N- || lolémí || language || némí || languages |- ! 12, 13 | various | ka-/k-, to-/t- || kashikɛ || helmet (from French casque) || toshikɛ || helmets |- ! 19, 13 | various | °i- (complex morphology), to-/t- || jɔ́ndɔ́ || ??? || tɔlɔ́ndɔ́ || ???
References
Relevant literature Elysee Meta Okubo. 2016. A COLLECTION OF 100 TETELA PROVERBS. Proverb website Mukanga, Ndjeka Elizabeth, Empenge Albert Shefu, Ambaye Albertine Tshefu. 2020. Great Collection of Tetela Proverbs on the African Wisdom. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishers. [283 proverbs, 107 pages]