lingvo.wikisort.org - Language

Search / Calendar

Aka, also known as Yaka or Beka, is a Bantu language spoken in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo, along the Ubangi River dividing the two countries.

This article is about the language spoken in the Central African Republic. For other uses, see Aka language (disambiguation).
Aka
Yaka
Native toCentral African Republic, Republic of Congo
EthnicityAka people
Native speakers
(30,000 cited 1986–1996)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
  • Atlantic–Congo
    • Benue–Congo
      • Bantoid
        • Bantu (Zone C.10)
          • Ngondi–Ngiri
            • Aka
Language codes
ISO 639-3axk
Glottologyaka1272
Guthrie code
C.104[2]
ELPYaka

Aka is spoken by the Aka people, pygmies closely related to the Ubangian-speaking Baka of Cameroon, Congo and Gabon. Together, these peoples are known as the Mbenga (Bambenga) or Binga (Babinga), the latter derogatory.

Famously, Aka shares vocabulary with the Baka languages, mostly concerning a specialised forest economy, such as words for edible plants, medicinal plants and honey collecting. This is among the 30% of Aka which is not Bantu and the 30% of Baka which is not Ubangian and has been posited as the remnant of an ancestral Western Pygmy (Mbenga or "Baaka") language which has otherwise vanished.[3] However, it is entirely possible that the Aka shifted to Bantu from a Ubangian language related to Baka, in which case the situation reduces to a single ethnic group adapted to the forest with correspondingly specialised vocabulary. There is no evidence for a wider linguistic affiliation with any of the other Pygmy peoples.[4]

The Aka people call themselves Mraka in the singular and Beka in the plural. The people and their language go by various alternate spellings: Mò-Áka, Moyaka, Bayaka, Yaga, Bayaga, Gbayaka, Biaka, Beká, Yakwa, Yakpa, Yakpwa, Nyoyaka. The western Aka are known as the Benzele (Mbenzélé, Babenzélé, Bambenzele, Ba-Benjelle), and the eastern Aka as the Sese (Basese). These might be distinct dialects; Nzari might be another.

Mikaya-Luma
Native toGabon
EthnicityMikaya, Baluma
Language family
Niger–Congo?
  • ...
    • Ngondi–Ngiri
      • Mikaya-Luma
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologmika1256
Guthrie code
none[2]

Pygmies of northern Gabon called the Mikaya and Luma are evidently either Aka or speak a language closely related to Aka.


Phonology



Consonants


Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-
velar		 Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive/
Affricate		 plain p t k k͡p
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ ɡ͡b
prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ⁿd͡ʒ ᵑɡ ᵑᵐɡ͡b
implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative plain ɸ s h
voiced β
Lateral l
Semivowel j w

Vowels


Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

[5]


Specialized forest vocabulary


Some vocabulary with nearby Baka:[6]

Meaning Baka Aka
Dioscorea semperflorens ʔèsùmà èsùmà
Fruits of Dioscorea bèlèbo èlèbó
Yam borer stick bòndùngà ndòngà
Male or old elephant kàmbà kàmbà
Elephant tracks ʔèpùndà èpùndà
Notched flute (for hunting ritual) mòbìɔ mòbìɔ́
Trigona beccari (a stingless bee) pɛ̀ndɛ̀ vɛ̀ndɛ̀
Queen bee ɲábɔ̀mɛ̀ èbɔ̀mɛ̀
Pollen kinda kíndá
Honeyguide kpangaadàndù kpángbá
Dialium pachyphyllum mbaso mbàsɔ̀

Literature



References


  1. Aka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Serge Bahuchet, 1993, History of the inhabitants of the central African rain forest: perspectives from comparative linguistics. In C.M. Hladik, ed., Tropical forests, people, and food: Biocultural interactions and applications to development. Paris: Unesco/Parthenon.
  4. Blench (in press)
  5. Duke, Daniel Joseph (2001). Aka as a Contact Language: Sociolinguistic and Grammatical Evidence. University of Texas.
  6. Serge Bahuchet, 1993, History of the inhabitants of the central African rain forest: perspectives from comparative linguistics. In C.M. Hladik, ed., Tropical forests, people, and food: Biocultural interactions and applications to development. Paris: Unesco/Parthenon.


This Bantu language-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e

This Republic of the Congo-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e

This Central African Republic-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e

На других языках

[de] Yaka (Sprache, Zentralafrikanische Republik)

Yaka (auch Aka, Babinga, Bambenga, Beka, Beká, Binga, Mòáka und Nyoyaka) ist eine Bantusprache und wird von circa 30.000 Angehörigen der Bayaka in der Zentralafrikanischen Republik und der Republik Kongo gesprochen.
- [en] Aka language

[fr] Aka (langue bantoue)

L'aka est une langue bantoue parlée en République centrafricaine et en République du Congo.

[it] Lingua yaka

Lo Yaka o aka o beka, è una lingua bantu parlata nella Repubblica Centrafricana e nella Repubblica del Congo, lungo il fiume Ubangi che fa da confine tra le due nazioni.


Текст в блоке "Читать" взят с сайта "Википедия" и доступен по лицензии Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike; в отдельных случаях могут действовать дополнительные условия.

Другой контент может иметь иную лицензию. Перед использованием материалов сайта WikiSort.org внимательно изучите правила лицензирования конкретных элементов наполнения сайта.

2019-2025
WikiSort.org - проект по пересортировке и дополнению контента Википедии