Kabba language
Sara language spoken in central Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kaba (Kabba), or Kabba of Goré, is a language of the Sara people in Central African Republic and Chad, with around 100,000 speakers.
NativetoCentral African Republic, Chad
EthnicitySara people
Native speakers
(72,000 Kaba in CAR cited 1996, and 11,000 in Chad cited 1971)[1]| Kaba | |
|---|---|
| Kabba of Gore | |
| Native to | Central African Republic, Chad |
| Ethnicity | Sara people |
Native speakers | (72,000 Kaba in CAR cited 1996, and 11,000 in Chad cited 1971)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ksp |
| Glottolog | kaba1281 |
There are several languages named Kaba, which is a local generic term approximately equivalent to Sara. Kaba of Gore is confusing classified as a Sara rather than as a Kaba language.
Kabba is a tonal language. There are three tones, High (H) Mid (M) and Low (L).
Phonology
Consonants
- The glottal stop [ʔ] is only heard in word-initial position, before vowels.
- /h/ occurs only in limited distribution.
- Sounds /t, d, ⁿd/ are heard in complimentary distribution with affricate sounds [ts, dz, ⁿdz] when in word initial position before /i/.
- /ɗ/ may have a retroflex [ɽ] or trill [r] allophone, when in intervocalic positions.
- /ɾ/ may also be heard as a retroflex [ɽ] in free variation.
- [ŋ] occurs as an allophone of /n/ when before a velar stop, or when at the end of root words or morphemes.[2]
Vowels
- /ə/ is heard as [ɨ] when in CVCV open syllables.