Bala language
Banu language spoken in DR Congo
| Bala | |
|---|---|
| Lobala | |
| Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Native speakers | 60,000 Lobala (2000)[1] 21,000 Boko (no date)[1] |
Language family | Niger–Congo?
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:loq – Lobalabkp – Iboko |
| Glottolog | loba1239 Lobalaboko1263 Boko |
C16[2] | |
Bala (Lobala) is a Bantu language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to Maho (2009), it includes Boko (Iboko).[2]
Distribution and status
Bala is spoken in the northwest corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo west of the Congo River by about 60,000 people. Most of these are not monolingual, but the language is being passed on to the next generation, especially in more remote areas. Ethnologue classifies the language as "vigorous", meaning that it is sustainable.[3]
There are four dialects of Bala: Likoka, Poko (Iboko), South Lobala, and Tanda.[3]
Negation
Like many languages in the Benue-Congo group, Bala forms negatives by adding an affix to the verbal phrase. However, Bala is unusual in that it adds two affixes to form negatives. These are added as a prefix and a suffix to the subject affix. For example,
- ba-tub-aka
- They sang
- te-ba-ik-aka tuba
- They did not sing
Here the te and the ik elements are the double affixes indicating negation, attached to the ba affix indicating third party plural. The tub element is the verb "to sing" and the aka affix indicates the past tense.[4]
- moto me t-a-iká mo-phé ná baphalnágà ná ntóma
- The man didn't give him money or food
In a similar way the t and iká negation elements are affixed to the verbal affix element a (indicating third person singular).[5]
References
- ^ a b Lobala at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Iboko at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) - ^ a b Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ a b Lobala at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ^ Bernd Heine, Derek Nurse, African Languages: An Introduction, p. 206, Cambridge University Press, 2000 ISBN 0521666295.
- ^ Lindsay J. Whaley, Introduction to Typology: The Unity and Diversity of Language, p. 4, SAGE Publications, 1996 ISBN 1506317855.
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