Vute language
Vute | |
---|---|
Native to | Cameroon |
Native speakers | (21,000 cited 1997)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | vut |
Glottolog | vute1244 |
Vute is a Mambiloid language of Cameroon and Gabon, with a thousand speakers in Nigeria. The orthography was standardized on March 9, 1979.[2] Noted dialect clusters are eastern, central, and Doume.
Phonology
Consonants
Consonants in Vute are numerous and include pulmonic and implosive airstreams. Labialization is phonemic in many consonants, some of which is dialectal.
Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Labial– velar |
Glottal | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | lab.‡‡ | plain | lab.‡‡ | plain | lab.‡‡ | plain | lab.‡‡ | plain | lab. | plain | lab.‡‡ | ||||
Nasal stop | [m] m | [mʷ] mw | [n] n | [ŋ] ŋ | |||||||||||
Implosive | [ɓ] ɓ | [ɓʷ] ɓw | [ɗ] ɗ | [ɗʷ] ɗw† | |||||||||||
Plosive | voiceless | [p] p | [t] t | [k] k | [kʷ] kw | [k͡p] kp | |||||||||
voiced | [b~β]* b | [d] d | [g~ɣ]* g | [gʷ] gw | [ɡ͡b] gb | ||||||||||
prenasalized | [ᵐb] mb | [ⁿd] nd | [ⁿdʷ] ndw†† | [ŋg] ŋg | [ŋgʷ] ŋgw | [ŋmɡ͡b] mgb§ | |||||||||
Affricate | voiceless | [t͡ʃ] c | [t͡ʃʷ] cw†† | ||||||||||||
voiced | [d͡ʒ] j | [d͡ʒʷ] jw†† | |||||||||||||
prenasalized | [ⁿd͡ʒ] nj§ | ||||||||||||||
Fricative | voiceless | [f] f | [fʷ] fw† | [s] s | [sʷ] sw†† | [h] h | [hʷ] hw‡ | ||||||||
voiced | [v] v | ||||||||||||||
prenasalized | [ɱv] mv§ | ||||||||||||||
Approximant | [l~ɾ~r]** l~r~r | [j] y | [w] w |
*becomes a fricative intervocalically. [ŋgáb] "they" -> [ŋgáβè] "their"
**initially: [leè] "wall ; intervocalically: [tòɾò] "papaya' ; finally: [bɨ́r] "oil palm tree"
†Doume dialect only.
††Doume and eastern dialects only.
‡Central dialects only'
‡‡Only vowels /i/ /e/ /a/ may follow a labialized consonant.
§ Low frequency[3]
Tones[2]
There are more phonemic tones than are marked in orthography, such as mid-high rising tone and mid tone being both unmarked <a> for example. Phonologically-conditioned downstep is unmarked.
Tone Category | IPA | Orthography | Example | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|---|
high tone | ˦ | á, áá | tím | blood |
mid tone | ˧ | a, aa | məb | louse |
low tone | ˨ | à, àà | tɨ̀mnɨ | to drown |
mid-high | ˧˥ | a, aá | tɨm | antelope |
low-high* | ˩˥ | à | ɓùn | grass |
high-low | ˥˩ | â, áà | bɨ̂ŋ | round, complete |
high-mid | ˥˧ | â, áa | mîn | good |
high-low-high | ˥˩˦ | âá | sîím | rainy season |
*Only in eastern dialects, on short vowels. All other dialects merge this class with low tone.
Vowels[2]
Oral | Nasal | ||
---|---|---|---|
Long | Short | Long | Short |
[i:] ii | [i~ɪ] i | [ĩ:] i̧i̧ | [ĩ] i̧ † |
[e:] ee | [e~ɛ] e | [ɛ̃:] ȩȩ | [ɛ̃] ȩ |
[ɨ:] ɨɨ † | [ɨ] ɨ | [ɨ̃:] ɨ̧ɨ̧ | [ɨ̃] ɨ̧ |
[ə:] əə † | [ə] ə | [ə̃:] ə̧ə̧ | [ə̃] ə̧ † |
[a:] aa | [a] a | [ã:] a̧a̧ | [ã] a̧ |
[u:] uu | [u~ʊ] u | [ũ:] u̧u̧ | [ũ] u̧ |
[o:] oo | [o~ɔ] o | [õ:] o̧o̧ | [õ] o̧ |
[ɔ:] ɔɔ* | [ɔ] ɔ* | [ɔ̃:] ɔ̧ɔ̧ | [ɔ̃] ɔ̧ † |
[ei] ei | [ẽĩ] ȩi̧ | ||
[ai] ai | [ãĩ] a̧i̧ | ||
[ɨi] ɨi | [ɨ̃ĩ] ɨ̧i̧ | ||
[əi] əi | [ə̃ĩ] ə̧i̧ | ||
[oi] oi | [õĩ] o̧i̧ |
* /ɔ/ only contrasts from /o/ in open syllables and before velar final consonants: /k/ and /ŋ/. When preceding bilabial and alveolar final consonants, [ɔ] is understood to be an allophone of /o/.
† Low frequency
References
- ^ Vute at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d Thwing, Rhonda (2004) [1981]. "Vute Orthography Statement" (PDF). General Alphabet of Cameroonian Languages.
- ^ "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2020-02-01.