Tetela language

Tetela (Otetela, Kitetela, Kikitatela), also Sungu, is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is spoken by the Tetela people.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPAlink	(Template:IPA link)
	prenasal	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link
	prenasal	Template:IPA link
Lateral			Template:IPA link
Approximant				Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link

• [ɡ] is heard as an allophone of /k/ in intervocalic positions.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Close-mid	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open-mid	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

Noun classes

Like other Bantu languages, Tetela grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes. The ancestral system had 22 classes (counting singular and plural as distinct according to the Meinhof system), with most Bantu languages sharing at least ten of them.

class	semantics	prefix	singular	translation	plural	translation
1, 2	persons	o-/ɔ-/w-, a-	omfúnjí	scribe, secretary	amfúnjí	scribes, secretaries
3, 4	trees, etc	o-/ɔ-/w-, e-/ɛ-	ojja	place	ejja	places; region
5, 6	various	di-/dy-, a-	dihamvú	fruit of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum	ahamvú	fruits of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum
7, 8	various	ke-/e-, di-/dy-	kesashi	chief	disashi	chiefs
9, 10	animals, etc	Ø-/N-, Ø-/N-	mbódí	goat	mbódí	goats
11, 10	abstract concepts, etc	lo-, N-	lolémí	language	némí	languages
12, 13	various	ka-/k-, to-/t-	kashikɛ	helmet (from French casque)	toshikɛ	helmets
19, 13	various	°i- (complex morphology), to-/t-	jɔ́ndɔ́	???	tɔlɔ́ndɔ́	???

Relevant literature

• Elysee Meta Okubo. 2016. A COLLECTION OF 100 TETELA PROVERBS. Proverb website
• Mukanga, Ndjeka Elizabeth, Empenge Albert Shefu, Ambaye Albertine Tshefu. 2020. Great Collection of Tetela Proverbs on the African Wisdom. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishers. [283 proverbs, 107 pages]

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