| Mono | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Region | Northwestern corner of Congo (DRC) |
Native speakers | (65,000 cited 1984 census)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mnh |
| Glottolog | mono1270 |
| ELP | Mono (Democratic Republic of the Congo) |
Mono is a language spoken by about 65,000 people[2] in the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of the Banda languages, a subbranch of the Ubangian branch of the Niger–Congo languages. It has five dialects: Bili, Bubanda, Mpaka, Galaba, and Kaga.
Mono has 33 consonant phonemes, including three labial-velar stops (/k͡p/, /ɡ͡b/, and prenasalized /ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b/), an asymmetrical eight-vowel system, and a labiodental flap /ⱱ/ (allophonically a bilabial flap [ⱳ]) that contrasts with both /v/ and /w/. It is a tonal language.
| Labial | Alveolar | Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | Labial- Velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | ||||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
Voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | tʃ ⟨tsh⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | k͡p ⟨kp⟩ | ʔ ⟨'⟩ |
| Voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | dʒ ⟨dj⟩ | g ⟨g⟩ | ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩ | ||
| Prenasalized | ᵐb ⟨mb⟩ | ⁿd ⟨nd⟩ | ⁿdʒ ⟨ndj⟩ | ᵑɡ ⟨ng⟩ | ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b ⟨ngb⟩ | ||
| Implosive | ɓ ⟨'b⟩ | ɗ ⟨'d⟩ | |||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ʃ ⟨sh⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | ||
| Voiced | v ⟨v⟩ | z ⟨z⟩ | ʒ ⟨j⟩ | ||||
| Trill/Tap | ⱱ ~ ⱱ̟ ⟨vw⟩ | r ⟨r⟩ | |||||
| Approximant | l ⟨l⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | ɨ ⟨ɨ⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ |
| Close-mid | e ⟨e⟩ | ə ⟨œ⟩ | o ⟨o⟩ |
| Open-mid | ɔ ⟨ɔ⟩ | ||
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ |
| High | Mid | Low | |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | ˥ ⟨á⟩ | ˧ ⟨ā⟩ | ˩ ⟨à⟩ |
| Description | High Level | Mid Level | Low Level |
| Transcription | á | a | à |
| Example | áwá ⟨áwá⟩ | āwā ⟨awa⟩ | àwà ⟨àwà⟩ |
| English Meaning | "diarrhea" | "road" | "fear" |