Nateni language

Nateni
Nateni
Native to	Benin
Ethnicity	Gurma
Native speakers	110,000 (2021)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Gur Northern Oti–Volta Gurma Nateni; ; ; ; ; ;
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	Benin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ntm
Glottolog	nate1242

Nateni (Natemba) is a language of the Gurma people spoken in Benin. It is named after its principal dialect; the others are Tayari (Tayaba), Kunteni (Kuntemba), Okoni (Okoma).

Phonology

Consonants^[2]
		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial–velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiced	b^[a]	d^[a]	ɟ^[a]^[b]
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c	k^[c]	k͡p ⟨kp⟩
Continuant		f	s	j ⟨y⟩		w	h

^ ^a ^b ^c
When preceding nasal vowels, the voiced plosives become nasal consonants:
- /b/ > [m]
- /d/ > [n]
- /ɟ/ > [ɲ]
^ According to Nédellec & Bukies (2008), the voiced palatal plosive /ɟ/ is disappearing in Nateni. Before oral vowels, it has completely merged to [j], while the nasal realization [ɲ] before nasal vowels is undergoing a similar process, but has not yet completely merged.
^ The voiceless velar plosive /k/ is realized as voiced [ɡ] between vowels (as well as following the syllabic nasal).

Vowels^[2]
	Front	Back
Close	i, ĩ ⟨ḭ⟩	u, ũ ⟨ṵ⟩
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ, ɛ̃ ⟨ɛ̰⟩	ɔ, ɔ̃ ⟨ɔ̰⟩
Open	a, ã ⟨a̰⟩
Syllabic	n̩^[a] ⟨n⟩

^
The syllabic nasal only occurs in medial and final positions. Its place of articulation depends on the sounds that follow it:
- [m] preceding bilabials
- [ɱ] preceding labiodentals
- [n] preceding alveolars
- [ɲ] preceding palatals
- [ŋ] preceding velars
It may also be analyzed as a /CV/ cluster with the vowel [ũ], as in [Nũ], where ⟨N⟩ is any realization of the syllabic nasal.

Writing system

Alphabet^[3]
uppercase	A	B	C	D	E	Ɛ	F	H	I	K	Kp	M	N	O	Ɔ	P	S	T	U	W	Y
lowercase	a	b	c	d	e	ɛ	f	h	i	k	kp	m	n	o	ɔ	p	s	t	u	w	y

The low tone is indicated with the grave accent and the high tone with the acute accent on the vowel ⟨à è ɛ̀ ì ò ɔ̀ ù á é ɛ́ í ó ɔ́ ú⟩ or the syllabic n ⟨ǹ ń⟩. The nasalization is indicated with the help of the tilde under the vowel ⟨a̰ ɛ̰ ḭ ɔ̰ ṵ⟩ which can be combined with the acute or grave accent indicating the tone ⟨á̰ ɛ̰́ ḭ́ ɔ̰́ ṵ́ à̰ ɛ̰̀ ḭ̀ ɔ̰̀ ṵ̀⟩.

References

^ Nateni at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
^ ^a ^b Nédellec, Brigitte; Bukies, Ulrich (December 2008), La Phonologie du Naténi (PDF), SIL Working Papers, vol. 2008–005, SIL Global
^ "Nateni written with Latin script: Symbols & Characters". ScriptSource.org.

[nasal-3] When preceding nasal vowels, the voiced plosives become nasal consonants:
/b/ > [m]

/d/ > [n]

/ɟ/ > [ɲ]

[2] /b/ > [m]

[3] /d/ > [n]

[4] /ɟ/ > [ɲ]

[j-4] According to Nédellec & Bukies (2008), the voiced palatal plosive /ɟ/ is disappearing in Nateni. Before oral vowels, it has completely merged to [j], while the nasal realization [ɲ] before nasal vowels is undergoing a similar process, but has not yet completely merged.

[k-5] The voiceless velar plosive /k/ is realized as voiced [ɡ] between vowels (as well as following the syllabic nasal).

[syllabicN-6] The syllabic nasal only occurs in medial and final positions. Its place of articulation depends on the sounds that follow it:
[m] preceding bilabials

[ɱ] preceding labiodentals

[n] preceding alveolars

[ɲ] preceding palatals

[ŋ] preceding velars
It may also be analyzed as a /CV/ cluster with the vowel [ũ], as in [Nũ], where ⟨N⟩ is any realization of the syllabic nasal.

[8] [m] preceding bilabials

[9] [ɱ] preceding labiodentals

[10] [n] preceding alveolars

[11] [ɲ] preceding palatals

[12] [ŋ] preceding velars

[e26-1] Nateni at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)

[SIL2008-2] Nédellec, Brigitte; Bukies, Ulrich (December 2008), La Phonologie du Naténi (PDF), SIL Working Papers, vol. 2008–005, SIL Global

[7] "Nateni written with Latin script: Symbols & Characters". ScriptSource.org.

[1]

[2]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[a]

[3]