Myene language

Myene is a cluster of closely related Bantu varieties spoken in Gabon by about 46,000 people. It is perhaps the most divergent of the Narrow Bantu languages,^[3] though Nurse & Philippson (2003) place it in with the Tsogo languages (B.30). The more distinctive varieties are Mpongwe (Pongoué), Galwa (Galloa), and Nkomi.

Myene
Omyene
Native to	Gabon
Region	Ogooue-Maritime Province, Middle Ogooue Province
Ethnicity	Myene (Mpongwe, Adyumba, Nkomi, Galwa), Bongo
Native speakers	45,000 (2007)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone B) Kele–Tsogo? Tsogo? Myene
Dialects	Mpongwe Galwa Nkomi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mye
Glottolog	myen1241
Guthrie code	B.11[2]

Phonology

Consonants, Jacquot et al. 1976^[4]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Nasal stop	voiceless				ŋk
	voiced	mb	nd		ŋg
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced				ɡ
Implosive		ɓ	ɗ
Nasal affricate	voiceless			n̠t̠ʃ
	voiced			n̠d̠ʒ
Affricate	voiceless			t̠ʃ
	voiced			d̠ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s
	voiced	β	z
Approximant			l	j	w
Trill		ʙ	r

Vowels, Jacquot et al. 1976^[4]

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open	a

Notes

1. Myene at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Bantu Classification Archived 2012-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, Ehret, 2009.
4. "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2024-12-03.

1. ^ le myènè en ligne sur : 'awanawintche.com', le myene en ligne : proverbes, contes, cours en audio mp3, histoires, rites et légendes o'myènè.

Bibliography

• Jacquot, A. (1976) Etude de la phonologie et de la morphologie myene, in Etudes Bantoues II', Bulletin SELAF 53, Paris, 13–79.
• Philippson, G. & G. Puech (1996) 'Tonal domains in Galwa (Bantu, B11c)'
• The Bantu languages

External links

• ELAR archive of Comparative documentation of the Myene language cluster: Adyumba, Enenga, Galwa, Mpongwe, Nkomi and Orungu