Bena language

Bena is a Bantu language spoken by the Bena people of the Iringa region of Tanzania.

Phonology

Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalNasal Plosivevoiceless voiced prenasal Affricate Fricativevoiceless voiced prenasal Approximant Voiceless sounds almost always occur as aspirated stops; [, , ].

// can be realized as [] intervocalically. [] can occur as an allophone of // before long non high vowels. [] can occur as an allophone of //, // in the Maswamu dialect. [, ] can occur as allophones of //, in the Twangabita dialect. [] can occur as an allophone of //. [] can occur as an allophone of // in the Maswamu dialect. [, ] can occur as allophones of // among some speakers. Prenasalised stops may be devoiced when occurring word-finally (ex. // ~ [ᵐb̥]).

Vowels FrontCentralBackHigh Mid Low

/, / before non-rounded vowels are recognized as glides [, ].

References