Kota language (Gabon)

Not to be confused with Kota language (India) or Kota language (Central African Republic).

Kota, or iKota, is a Bantu language spoken by the Bakota people. It is spoken in northeastern Gabon, Ogooué-Ivindo Province and in some areas of Republic of Congo. According to Ethnologue there are 34,442 Kota speakers in Gabon and 9,055 in the Republic of Congo.^[3]

Kota
iKota
Native to	Gabon, Republic of the Congo
Native speakers	34,000 (2000–2007)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone B) Kele (b. 20) Kota
Language codes
ISO 639-3	koq
Glottolog	kota1274
Guthrie code	B.25[2]
ELP	Kota (Gabon)

Kota includes several dialects, which include: Ndambomo, Mahongwe, Ikota-la-hua, Sake, Menzambi, Bougom.

Phonology

Consonants^[4]

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d	tʃ dʒ	k
Prenasalized	ᵐp ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑg
Fricative	f	s z			h
Nasal	m	n	ɲ
Approximant	w	l	j

Vowels^[4]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid-high	e eː		o oː
Mid-low	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔ̃ ɔː
Low		a ã aː

Kota also has two tones;^[4] high and low.

References

1. Kota at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Ethnologue report
4. Magnana Ekoukou, Brunelle (2015). Description de l’Ikota (B25), langue bantu du Gabon. Implémentation de la morphosyntaxe et de la syntaxe (Thesis) (in French). Université d’Orléans.