Mbandja (Banja, Mbanza) is the largest of the Banda languages. There are 350,000 speakers in DRC, 10,000 in the Republic of Congo, and an unknown number in CAR.
Mbandja | |
---|---|
Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic |
Native speakers | 360,000 (2000)[1] |
Language family | Ubangian
|
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | zmz |
Glottolog | mban1263 |
Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | lab. | ||||||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | (ŋ) | |||||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | k͡p | ʔ | ||
voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | ||||
prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ⁿd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡ͡b | ||||
implosive | ɓ | ɗ | |||||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | |||||
voiced | β | v | z | ʒ | ɦ | ||||
prenasal | ⁿz | ||||||||
Rhotic | r | ||||||||
Lateral | l | ||||||||
Approximant | j | w |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | u |
Mid | e | ə | o |
ɛ | ɔ | ||
Open | a |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | ĩ | ũ | |
Mid | ẽ | õ | |
Open | ã |
Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Official language | |||||||||||||||||||||
National languages | |||||||||||||||||||||
Indigenous languages (by province) |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Sign languages |
Ubangian languages | |
---|---|
Gbaya | |
Zande | |
Banda | |
Sere | |
Ngbaka | |
Mba | |
Ngbandi |