Central Banda is a

dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...

of the

Banda languages Banda is a family of Ubangian languages spoken by the Banda people of Central Africa. Banda languages are distributed in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan. Languages Olson (1996) Olson (1996) classi ...

spoken by around one million people, primarily in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. The varieties may be

mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intellig ...

, especially the Mid-Southern–Gobu–Kpagua–Mono–Ngundu cluster. The other varieties are Bambari, Banda-Banda, Mbrès, Ndélé, and Togbo-Vara Banda.

Phonology

The following is the Banda-Tangbago dialect:

Consonants

Vowels

Tone

Vowel tones are: rising /ǎ/, falling /â/, mid /ā/, low /à/, and high /á/.

Varieties

Central Banda language varieties listed by Moñino (1988): *Yakpà (also in

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

); Gubú (also in

); Kpágùà (also in

); Ngùndù, Bòngò, Wasá (also in

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

); Dùkpù (also in

) Further information: Dukpu people * Lìndá, Jòtò, Ndòkpà, Ngápó *Southern Gbàgà, Nbìyì, Bèrèyà, Ngòlà, Ndi, Kâ, Gbambiya, Hàì, Galabò, Vídìrì (Mvédèrè) (also in

), Bàndà-Bàndà, Burú (only in

), Wùndù (only in

), Gòv̂òrò (only in

) *Bàndà-Ndele (Govo, Ngàjà, Gbòngó, Mbàtá, Gbàyà, Tulu, and Dabùrù groups), Bàndà-Kpaya (only in

), Ngàò, Ngbalá, Tàngbàgò (also in

), Júnguru (also in

) *Mbere, Búkà, Mòrùbà, Sàbángà, Wádà (also in

) *Vàrà (also in

), Tògbò (also in

) * Yàngere Nougayrol (1989) also lists Kɔ̀nɔ́, Manja, Ndòkà, Njùlúgù, and Sàra Dìnjo.

Demographics

Demographics of Central Banda language varieties as synthesized from Moñino (1988)Moñino, Yves (1988). ''Lexique comparatif des langues oubanguiennes''. Paris: Geuthner. and Nougayrol (1989):Nougayrol, Pierre. 1989. Les Groupes Banda du

Bamingui-Bangoran Bamingui-Bangoran is one of the 20 prefectures of the Central African Republic. It covers an area of 58,200 km2 and had a population of 43,229 as of the 2003 census. The capital is Ndélé. In 2024, official estimates suggest the population ...

(RCA). ''Révue d'Ethnolinguistique'' (Cahiers du

LACITO LACITO (''Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale'') is a multidisciplinary research organisation, principally devoted to the study of cultures and languages of oral tradition. LACITO is a branch of the Centre National de la Recherche Scient ...

) 4: 197-208.

References

{{Ubangian languages Languages of the Central African Republic Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Languages of South Sudan Banda languages