Mangbetu, or ''Nemangbetu,'' is one of the most populous of the

Central Sudanic languages Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria and ...

. It is spoken by the

Mangbetu people The Mangbetu are a Central Sudanic ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, living in the northeastern province of Haut-Uele. Culture The Mangbetu are known for their highly developed art and music. One instrument associated with ...

of northeastern Congo. It, or its speakers, are also known as ''Amangbetu, Kingbetu, Mambetto.'' The most populous dialect, and the one most widely understood, is called Medje. Others are Aberu (Nabulu), Makere, Malele, Popoi (Mapopoi). The most divergent is Lombi; ''Ethnologue'' treats it as a distinct language. About half of the population speaks Bangala, a trade language similar to

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree ...

, and in southern areas some speak

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

. The Mangbetu live in association with the Asua Pygmies, and their languages are closely related.

Dialects

Mangbetu dialects and locations as listed by Demolin (1992): *''Mangbetu proper'' is spoken north of

Isiro Isiro (pronounced ) is the capital of Haut-Uele Province in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies between the equatorial forest and the savannah and its main resource is coffee. Isiro's population is estimated ...

, in the subregion of Haut-Uele and north of the Bomokandi River. It is found in

Nangazizi Nangazizi is a settlement in the province of Haut-Uélé in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Location Nangazizi is in the Azanga chiefdom of the Rungu Territory in Haut-Uélé. Niangara is further to the north on the Uele River. It is on t ...

and Rungu in the collectivité of Azanga, Ganga in the collectivité of Okondo, Tapili in the collectivité of Mangbetu, Medanoma in the collectivité of Mangbele, in Ndei collectivité north of

, and in Mboli collectivité near Goa. *''Medje'' (''Mɛdʒɛ'') is spoken south of

, around Medje in Mongomassi and Medje collectivités, and also in the ethnic Mangbetu collectivités of Azanga and Ndei. *''Makere'' is spoken around Zobia in the subregion of Bas-Uele. *''Malele'' is spoken in Poko TerritoryBokula, Moiso & Agozia-Kario Irumu. 1994. Bibliographie et matériaux lexicaux des langues Moru-Mangbetu (Soudan-Central, Zaïre). ''Annales Aequatoria'' 10: 203‒245. - in the areas of Balele, Niapu, and Kisanga. *''Mapopoi'' is spoken in Panga and the

Aruwimi River The Aruwimi River is a tributary of the Congo River, located to the north and east of the Congo.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , Vol. Two The Aruwimi begins as the Ituri River, which rises near Lak ...

. *''Nabulu'' is spoken in Bafwasamoa, 15 km north of Nia-Nia. *''Lombi'' is spoken in Bafwasende Territory - in Barumbi around the Opienge River, and in Maiko National Park.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Retroflex consonants are slightly trilled as �ʳ �ʳ ��ɖʳ

Other Features

One unusual feature of Mangbetu is that it has both a voiced and a voiceless

bilabial trill The voiced bilabial trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is B\. Features Features of the voiced ...

as well as a

labial flap In phonetics, the voiced labiodental flap is a speech sound found primarily in languages of Central Africa, such as Kera and Mangbetu. It has also been reported in the Austronesian language Sika. It is one of the few non- rhotic flaps. The ...

. : "to bring out" : "to fan" : "to enclose" : "to defecate" : "to get fat" The labial trills are not particularly associated with back vowels or prenasalization, pace their development in some American languages.Olson & Koogibho (2013) "Labial vibrants in Mangbetu"
/ref> : "leaping like a leopard" : "kind of plan"

References

{{Authority control Central Sudanic languages Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo