Berta language

Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Berta in Sudan and Ethiopia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Berta proper, a.k.a. Gebeto, is spoken by the Berta (also Bertha, Barta, Burta) in Sudan and Ethiopia. As of 2006 Berta had approximately 180,000 speakers in Sudan.[2]

NativetoSudan and Ethiopia
RegionBenishangul-Gumuz
EthnicityBerta people, Wetawit
Native speakers
380,000 all Berta languages (2006–2007)[1]
100,000 monolinguals in Ethiopia[1]
Quick facts Native to, Region ...
Berta
Gebeto
Native toSudan and Ethiopia
RegionBenishangul-Gumuz
EthnicityBerta people, Wetawit
Native speakers
380,000 all Berta languages (2006–2007)[1]
100,000 monolinguals in Ethiopia[1]
Dialects
  • Shuru
  • Bake
  • Undu
  • Mayu
  • Fadashi
  • Dabuso
  • Beleje Gonfoye
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3wti (all Berta languages)
Glottologbert1248
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The three Berta languages, Gebeto, Fadashi and Undu, are often considered dialects of a single language. Berta proper includes the dialects Bake, Dabuso, Gebeto, Mayu, and Shuru; the dialect name Gebeto may be extended to all of Berta proper.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

More information Labial, Dental ...
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiced b d ɟ g
ejective pʼ tʼ (cʼ) kʼ (ʔ)
implosive ɗ
Fricative voiceless f θ s ʃ h
ejective sʼ
Nasal m n (ɲ) ŋ
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant j w
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  • Voiced plosives /b, d, ɡ/ may be heard as voiceless [p, t, k] in free variation, word-initially or word-finally.
  • A glottal stop [ʔ] mainly occurs between vowels, and may also be heard before word-initial vowel sounds.
  • Nasal-stop sequences may occur morpheme-initially as [mb, nd, ŋɡ, ŋkʼ].
  • /ŋ/ is heard as [ɲ] when preceding a front vowel /i/ or /e/.
  • /kʼ/ is heard as a palatal [cʼ] when before front vowels.
  • /ɡ/ can be heard as voiced palatal [ɟ] or as a voiceless palatal [c] when before front vowels.
  • /h/ in word-final position can be heard as a fricative [x].
  • /s, θ/ may sometimes occur as slightly voiced [z, ð] in vocalic or nasal environments.

Vowels

More information Front, Central ...
Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a aː
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  • If a non-closed vowel sound, /ɛ/ or /ɔ/, are adjacent to a closed vowel sound like /i/ or /u/ within vowel harmony, they are then heard as more closed [e, o].[4]
More information Phoneme, Allophone ...
Phoneme Allophone
/i/ [i], [ɨ~ɘ], [ɨ], [ɪ]
/a/ [a], [ə], [æ], [ɜ], [ɐ]
/u/ [u], [ʉ], [ʊ]
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Pronouns

The pronouns of Berta are as follows:

More information Topic, Postverbal subject ...
Topic Postverbal subject Postverbal object
I àl(ì) -lɪ́ɪ̀ -ɟì
you (sg.) (à)ŋɡó -ŋó -ŋɡó
he, she, it ɲìnè -né ɲìnè, -né
we χàtâŋ -ŋàa χàtâŋ
you (pl.) χàtú χátú χàtú
they mèrée mérée mèrée
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See also

References

Bibliography

External links

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