BENA LANGUAGE

Bena
Bena
Ekibena
Native to	Tanzania
Ethnicity	Bena
Native speakers	590,000 (2009)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Bena–Kinga (G60) Bena; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Bena; Benamanga;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; bez – Bena; egm – Benemanga (include Kidugala and Lupembe dialects)
Glottolog	bena1262
Guthrie code	G.63
Linguasphere	99-AUS-ub incl. varieties 99-AUS-uba...-ubg

Bena is a Bantu language spoken by the Bena people of the Iringa region of Tanzania.

Phonology

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑɡ
Affricate			ts
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			h
	voiced	v
	prenasal		ⁿs
Approximant			l	j	w

Voiceless sounds almost always occur as aspirated stops; [ pʰ, tʰ, kʰ].

/ v/ can be realized as [ ʋ] intervocalically.
ɖ] can occur as an allophone of / d/ before long non high vowels.
x] can occur as an allophone of / k/, / h/ in the Maswamu dialect.
cç, tʃ] can occur as allophones of / ts/, in the Twangabita dialect.
ⁿz] can occur as an allophone of / ⁿs/.
ɟ] can occur as an allophone of / j/ in the Maswamu dialect.
β, ʋ] can occur as allophones of / w/ among some speakers.
Prenasalised stops may be devoiced when occurring word-finally (ex. / ᵐb/ ~ [ᵐb̥]).

Morrison, Michelle Elizabeth (2011). A Reference Grammar of Bena (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl: 1911/70359.

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Bena
Ekibena
Native to	Tanzania
Ethnicity	Bena
Native speakers	590,000 (2009)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Bena–Kinga (G60) Bena
Dialects	Bena Benamanga
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: `bez` – Bena `egm` – Benemanga (include Kidugala and Lupembe dialects)
Glottolog	`bena1262`
Guthrie code	`G.63`^[2]
Linguasphere	`99-AUS-ub incl. varieties 99-AUS-uba...-ubg`