Ngwii
Ngul
Native toDRC
Native speakers
8,000:[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nlo
Glottologngul1247

Ngwii or Ngul is a Bantu language spoken in the Kwilu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Despite having a relatively small speech community, use of the language is prevalent.[1]

Phonology

Ngwii has 37 consonants:[2]

Bilabial Labio-dental Labiovelar Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
Plosive plain p, b d, t k
prenasalized ᵐb, ᵐp ⁿd, ⁿt ᵑk, ᵑg
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Fricative plain f, v s ʃ, ʒ ʁ
prenasalized ᵐf, ᵐv
Affricative plain p͡f t͡s, d͡z t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ
prenasalized ᵐp͡f ⁿt͡s, ⁿd͡z ⁿt͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ
Approximant w j
Lateral l
Trill r

Numerals

Like other Niger-Congo languages, Ngwii has a base ten counting system where numbers after ten use the conjunction "ni" to add another number to reach higher values.

The first 20 numerals in Ngwii are[3]

  1. mo
  2. ipe
  3. isar
  4. ini
  5. itɛan
  6. isom
  7. sjambja
  8. ɲani
  9. ɲa
  10. dzum
  11. dzum ni mo
  12. dzum ni pe
  13. dzum ni sar
  14. dzum ni ni
  15. dzum ni tjan
  16. dzum ni som
  17. dzum ni sjambja
  18. dzum ni ɲani
  19. dzum ni iwaj
  20. dzum na dzum

References

  1. 1 2 "Ngul". Ethnologue. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  2. Pacchiarotti, Sara; Maselli, Lorenzo; Bostoen, Koen (2021). "The emergence of interior vowels and heterosyllabic vowel sequences in Ngwi". Papers in Historical Phonology. 6: 4. doi:10.2218/pihph.6.2021.6693. hdl:1854/LU-8732612. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  3. "Numeral system of the world's languages". Retrieved 5 October 2023.
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