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 cited 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.