Myene language

Myene
Omyene
Native toGabon
RegionOgooue-Maritime Province, Middle Ogooue Province
EthnicityMyene (Mpongwe, Adyumba, Nkomi, Galwa), Bongo
Native speakers
45,000 (2007)[1]
Dialects
  • Mpongwe
  • Galwa
  • Orungu
  • Nkomi
Language codes
ISO 639-3mye
Glottologmyen1241
B.11[2]

Myene is a cluster of closely related Bantu varieties spoken in Gabon by about 46,000 people. It is perhaps the most divergent of the Narrow Bantu languages,[3] though Nurse & Philippson (2003) place it in with the Tsogo languages (B.30). The more distinctive varieties are Mpongwe (Pongoué), Galwa (Galloa), and Nkomi.

Phonology

Consonants, Jacquot et al. 1976[4][5][6]
Bilabial Labio-
dental 		Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop/
Affricate 		voiceless p t tʃ k
voiced b d dʒ ɡ
prenasal vl. ᵐp ⁿt ᶮtʃ ᵑk
prenasal vd. ᵐb ⁿd ᶮdʒ ᵑg
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ
voiced β v z ɣ
Approximant l j w
Trill r
  • Voiced sounds /b, d/ may also be heard as implosives [ɓ, ɗ] in word-medial positions.
  • Sounds /ᶮtʃ, ᶮdʒ/ may also be heard as prenasal alveolar affricates [ⁿts, ⁿdz] across dialects.
  • /w/ may be heard as more palatal [ɥ] when before front vowel sounds.
Vowels, Jacquot et al. 1976[4]
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Notes

  1. ^ Myene at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Bantu Classification Archived 2012-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, Ehret, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  5. ^ Ambouroue (2007)
  6. ^ Daouda (1988)
  1. ^ le myènè en ligne sur : 'awanawintche.com', le myene en ligne : proverbes, contes, cours en audio mp3, histoires, rites et légendes o'myènè.

Bibliography

  • Ambouroue, Odette (2007). Éléments de description de l'Orungu: Langue bantu du Gabon (B11b). Brussels: Université Libre de Bruxelles dissertation.
  • Jacquot, A. (1976) Etude de la phonologie et de la morphologie myene, in Etudes Bantoues II', Bulletin SELAF 53, Paris, 13–79.
  • Patrick Mouguiama Daouda (1988). Éléments de description du mpongwe : Phonologie, morphologie du système nominal et pronominal (mémoire de maîtrise). Université Omar Bongo. 154 p
  • Philippson, G. & G. Puech (1996) 'Tonal domains in Galwa (Bantu, B11c)' The Bantu languages
  • Teisseres, Urbain (1957). Méthode pratique pour apprendre l'omyènè. 2nd edn. Paris: Société des Missions Evangéliques