Songe, also known as Songye, Kisonge, Lusonge, Yembe, and Northeast Luba, is a Bantu language spoken by the Songye people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Songe
Native toDemocratic Republic of the Congo
RegionKasai-Oriental province
Native speakers
(1 million cited 1991)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3sop
Glottologsong1303
L.23[2]

Ethnologue notes that Songe is "related" to Mbagani, which they do not include in their database. Maho (2009) labels as "Mbagani (Binji)" one of the two geographic areas Ethnologue assigns to Songe, but says that it is closer to Lwalu; he says that it is a different language, Binji, that is close to Songe.

Phonology

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Vowels

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A five vowel system with vowel length is present:

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal
Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t k
vl. prenasal ᵐp ⁿt ⁿtʃ ᵑk
voiced b d ɡ
vd. prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ
vl. prenasal ᶬf ⁿs ⁿʃ
voiced v z ʒ
vd. prenasal ᶬv ⁿz ⁿʒ
Approximant l j w
  • Palatalization [ʲ] and labialization [ʷ] is also present among consonant sounds.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Songe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ^ Stappers, Leo (1964). Morfologie van het Songye. Leuven: Katholieke Universiteit.