Tetela language

Tetela (Otetela, Kitetela, Kikitatela), also Sungu, is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is spoken by the Tetela people.

Tetela
Ɔtɛtɛla
Native toDemocratic Republic of the Congo
RegionNorthern Kasai Oriental Province
EthnicityTetela people
Native speakers
(760,000 cited 1991)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
tll  Tetela
hba  Hamba
Glottologtete1250  Tetela
hamb1245  Hamba
C.71[2]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t t͡ʃ k
voiced b d d͡ʒ (ɡ)
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᶮd͡ʒ ᵑɡ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ h
voiced v
prenasal ᶬv
Lateral l
Approximant j w
  • [ɡ] is heard as an allophone of /k/ in intervocalic positions.[3]

Vowels

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

Noun classes

Like other Bantu languages, Tetela grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes. The ancestral system had 22 classes (counting singular and plural as distinct according to the Meinhof system), with most Bantu languages sharing at least ten of them.

classsemanticsprefixsingulartranslationpluraltranslation
1, 2 persons o-/ɔ-/w-, a-omfúnjíscribe, secretaryamfúnjíscribes, secretaries
3, 4 trees, etc o-/ɔ-/w-, e-/ɛ-ojjaplaceejjaplaces; region
5, 6 various di-/dy-, a-dihamvúfruit of Chrysophyllum lacourtianumahamvúfruits of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum
7, 8 various ke-/e-, di-/dy-kesashichiefdisashichiefs
9, 10 animals, etc Ø-/N-, Ø-/N-mbódígoatmbódígoats
11, 10 abstract concepts, etc lo-, N-lolémílanguagenémílanguages
12, 13 various ka-/k-, to-/t-kashikɛhelmet (from French casque)toshikɛhelmets
19, 13 various °i- (complex morphology), to-/t-jɔ́ndɔ́???tɔlɔ́ndɔ́???

References

  1. Tetela at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Hamba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Kamomba, Michel Wetshemongo (2020). Parler, lire et écrire la langue bantoue otetela. L'Harmattan.

Relevant literature

  • Elysee Meta Okubo. 2016. A COLLECTION OF 100 TETELA PROVERBS. Proverb website
  • Mukanga, Ndjeka Elizabeth, Empenge Albert Shefu, Ambaye Albertine Tshefu. 2020. Great Collection of Tetela Proverbs on the African Wisdom. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishers. [283 proverbs, 107 pages]


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