Ngiti language

The Ngiti /əŋˈɡiːti/,[2] or South Lendu, is an ethnolinguistic group located in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ngiti speakers call their language Ndruna. In 1991, the Ngiti numbered 100,000 located in the Irumu territory south of Bunia.[3] During the Ituri conflict, the Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri was formed as a Ngiti militia group and political party.[4]

Ngiti
South Lendu
Ndruna
Native toCongo (DRC)
Native speakers
(100,000 cited 1991)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3niy
Glottologngit1239

Phonology
Consonant Phonemes[5]: 31 
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Labial-velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ
Plosive voiced b d ɖɽ ɟ ɡ ɡ͡b
voiceless p t ʈɽ c k k͡p
prenasalised ᵐb ⁿd ᶯɖɽ ᶮɟ ᵑɡ ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b
Implosive voiced ɓ ᶑ ʄ
voiceless ɓ̥ ᶑ̥ ʄ̥ ʔ
Affricate voiced b͡v d͡z
voiceless p͡f t͡s
Fricative voiced v z
voiceless f s h
prenasalised ᵐv ⁿz
Approximant β l r j w
Vowel Phonemes[5]: 55 
Front Back
High +ATR i u
-ATR ɪ ʊ
Mid +ATR e o
-ATR ɛ ɔ
Low a

Unusual numeral system

Ngiti is reported to have a base-32 number system with base-4 cycles.[6] The following is a list of some Ngiti numerals.

NumberNumeral
1 atdí
2 ɔyɔ
3 ɨ̀bhʉ
4 ɨ̀fɔ
8 àrʉ̀
12 otsi
16 ɔpɨ
20 àbà
24 àròtsí
28 àdzòro
32 wǎdhɨ̀
64 ɔyɔ wǎdhɨ̀
96 ɨ̀bhʉ wǎdhɨ̀
128 ɨ̀fɔ wǎdhɨ̀

Notes and references
  1. Ngiti at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. Ngiti from Ethnologue
  4. "DRC: Who's who in Ituri – militia organisations, leaders", IRIN, 20 April 2005
  5. Kutsch Lojenga, Constance (1994). Ngiti: a Central-Sudanic language of Zaire (PhD). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
  6. Hammarström, Harald (2006), "Rarities in Numeral Systems", Proceedings of Rara & Rarissima Conference (PDF)


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