Vute
Native toCameroon
Native speakers
(21,000 cited 1997)[1]
Niger–Congo?
Language codes
ISO 639-3vut
Glottologvute1244

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.

Consonants of Vute[2][3]
Labial Dental/
Alveolar 		Post-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Labial–
velar 		Glottal
plain lab.[a] plain lab.[a] plain lab.[a] plain lab. plain lab.[a]
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ mʷ ⟨mw⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩
Implosive ɓ ⟨ɓ⟩ ɓʷ ⟨ɓw⟩ ɗ ⟨ɗ⟩ ɗʷ ⟨ɗw⟩[b]
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ t͡ʃ ⟨c⟩ t͡ʃʷ ⟨cw⟩[c] k ⟨k⟩ kʷ ⟨kw⟩ k͡p ⟨kp⟩
voiced b[d]⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩ d͡ʒʷ ⟨jw⟩[c] g[e]⟨g⟩ gʷ ⟨gw⟩ ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩
prenasalized ᵐb ⟨mb⟩ ⁿd ⟨nd⟩ ⁿdʷ ⟨ndw⟩[c] ⁿd͡ʒ ⟨nj⟩[f] ᵑg ⟨ŋg⟩ ᵑgʷ ⟨ŋgw⟩ ᵑᵐɡ͡b ⟨mgb⟩[f]
Fricative voiceless f ⟨f⟩ fʷ ⟨fw⟩[b] s ⟨s⟩ sʷ ⟨sw⟩[c] h ⟨h⟩ hʷ ⟨hw⟩[g]
voiced v ⟨v⟩
prenasalized ᶬv ⟨mv⟩[f]
Rhotic (ɾ~r)[h]
Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩
  1. ^ a b c d Only vowels /i/ /e/ /a/ may follow a labialized consonant.
  2. ^ a b Doume dialect only.
  3. ^ a b c d Doume and eastern dialects only.
  4. ^ becomes a fricative [β] intervocalically. [ŋgáb] "they" -> [ŋgáβè] "their"
  5. ^ becomes a fricative [ɣ] intervocalically. [ɡè nɨ] "to carry" -> [ɲdʒɨ̀ɨ̀ɣɨ̀βɨ̀] "of leprosy"
  6. ^ a b c Low frequency[4]
  7. ^ Central dialects only
  8. ^ initially: [leè] "wall ; intervocalically: [tòɾò] "papaya' ; finally: [bɨ́r] "oil palm tree"

Tones

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

Oral Nasal
Long Short Long Short
[iː] ii [i~ɪ] i [ĩː] i̧i̧ [ĩ] i̧
[eː] ee [e~ɛ] e [ɛ̃ː] ȩȩ [ɛ̃] ȩ
[ɨː] ɨɨ [ɨ] ɨ [ɨ̃ː] ɨ̧ɨ̧ [ɨ̃] ɨ̧
[əː] əə [ə] ə [ə̃ː] ə̧ə̧ [ə̃] ə̧
[aː] aa [a] a [ãː] a̧a̧ [ã] a̧
[uː] uu [u~ʊ] u [ũː] u̧u̧ [ũ] u̧
[oː] oo [o~ɔ] o [õː] o̧o̧ [õ] o̧
[ɔː] ɔɔ [ɔ] ɔ [ɔ̃ː] ɔ̧ɔ̧ [ɔ̃] ɔ̧
[ei] ei [ẽĩ] ȩi̧
[ai] ai [ãĩ] a̧i̧
[ɨi] ɨi [ɨ̃ĩ] ɨ̧i̧
[əi] əi [ə̃ĩ] ə̧i̧
[oi] oi [õĩ] o̧i̧

References

  1. ^ Vute at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c d Thwing, Rhonda (2004) [1981]. "Vute Orthography Statement" (PDF). General Alphabet of Cameroonian Languages.
  3. ^ a b Thwing, Rhonda Ann (1987). The Vute Noun Phrase and the Relationship Between Vute and Bantu (Cameroon). Ann Arbor: UMI.
  4. ^ "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
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