North Teke, or Tɛgɛ (Tege, Teghe, Itege), is a member of the Teke languages dialect continuum of the Congolese plateau.
Phonology
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarPlosivevoicelessvoicedprenasal vl.prenasal vd.Affricatevoicelessvoiced~prenasal vl.~prenasal vd.~Fricativevoicelessvoiced()prenasal vl.prenasal vd.NasalRhotictaptrillApproximant
/b/ can also be heard as [ɓ] in free variation. /ɡ/ can be heard as [ɣ] when in between vowels. Sounds /d͡ʒ, ⁿt͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ/ can also be heard as alveolar [d͡z, ⁿt͡s, ⁿd͡z] in free variation. The following sounds can be labialized as [bʷ, kʷ, fʷ, sʷ, d͡zʷ, ɲʷ, lʷ, mʷ, ᵐbʷ, ⁿt͡ʃʷ, ⁿd͡ʒʷ, ᵑkʷ, ᵑɡʷ]. The labialized sounds /kʷ, ᵑkʷ/ can also be heard as [k͡p, ᵑk͡p]. The following sounds can be palatalized as [pʲ, bʲ, kʲ, fʲ, sʲ, t͡sʲ, lʲ, mʲ, ᵐpʲ, ᵐbʲ, ⁿt͡ʃʲ].
Vowels FrontCentralBackCloseClose-midOpen-midOpen
Sounds /i, a, u/ can be heard as [ɪ, ə, ʊ] in lax position.
Alphabet + North Teke alphabet Uppercase A B D DZ E F G I K L M N NY Ŋ O P PF R S T TS U V W Y Lowercase a b d dz e f g i k l m n ny ŋ o p pf r s t ts u v w y References
Works cited