Maba
Bura Mabang
Native toChad[1]
RegionOuaddaï, Wadi Fira
EthnicityMaba
Native speakers
570,000 (2019)[1]
Nilo-Saharan?
Dialects
  • Maba
  • Kodroy
  • Kabartu
  • Kondongo
Arabic script
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3mde
Glottologmaba1277

Maba (Maban, Mabang, or Bura Mabang) is a Nilo-Saharan language of the Maban branch spoken in Chad and Sudan. It is divided into several dialects, and serves as a local trade language. Maba is closely related to the Masalit language.[2] Most speakers of Maba reside in Chad with 542,000 speakers as of 2019. In 2017 there were 25,000 speakers in Sudan where the language is known as Sulaihab.[1]

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a aː
  • /ɛ, ɛː/ and /ɔ, ɔː/ may be realized as more close [e, eː] and [o, oː], when found in open syllable positions.
  • Vowels may also be marginally realized as nasal when in nasal environments.

    Consonants

    Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
    Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
    Stop voiceless (p) t c k
    voiced b d ɟ g
    prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᶮɟ ᵑɡ
    Fricative voiceless f s ʃ (h)
    voiced (z)
    Rhotic ɾ
    Lateral l
    Approximant j w
    • Stop sounds /b, t, k/ are heard as unreleased [p̚, t̚, k̚] when in word-final position.
    • Sounds [p, h] are heard mostly as a result of loanwords. [z] is also mostly from Arabic loanwords, but also may occur in some native words as well.
    • /t, d, ⁿd/ when preceding a tap /ɾ/, are then heard as retroflex [ʈ, ɖ, ᶯɖ].
    • /ɾ/ may also be heard as a trill [r] in free variation.[3]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 Maba at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    2. "Masalit language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
    3. Weiss, Doris (2009). Phonologie et morphosyntaxe du Maba. Université Lumière - Lyon II.

    Further reading

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