Nyaneka language

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Wikipedia

Nyaneka
Lunyaneka, Olunyaneka
Native toAngola
RegionHuila, Namibia, Namibe, Luanda, Benguela etc. . .
Native speakers
1.6 million (2024)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nyk
Glottolognyan1305
R.13[2]

Nyaneka or Haneca is a Bantu language of Angola. The Ngambwe "dialect" is now considered a distinct language.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal		 Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t tʃ ~ c k
prenasal vl. ᵐ̥pʰ ⁿ̥tʰ ᶮ̥tʃ ~ ᶮ̥c ᵑ̥kʰ
prenasal vd. ᵐb ⁿd ᶮdʒ ~ ᶮɟ ᵑɡ
Fricative voiceless f s
voiced v ~ ʋ ɦ
Approximant j w
Lateral l

Consonants are palatalized when in combination with /j/;
/pʲ, tʲ, vʲ~ʋʲ, nʲ, lʲ, ᵐ̥pʰʲ, ⁿ̥tʰʲ, ᵑ̥kʰʲ, ⁿdʲ/.

Consonants are labialized when in combination with /w/;
/pʷ, tʷ, nʷ, lʷ, ᵐ̥pʰʷ, ⁿ̥tʰʷ, ᵑ̥kʰʷ, ᵐbʷ/.

  • /s/ is heard as [ʃ] in the dialects spoken in Quilenges, Chilenge.
  • Affricate sounds /tʃ, ᶮ̥tʃ, ᶮdʒ/ may also range to palatal plosive sounds [c, ᶮ̥c, ᶮɟ] in free variation among speakers.
  • /v/ may also be heard as a labio-dental approximant [ʋ] in free variation.[3]

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

Sample text

SAMPLE TEXT

Okulikuambela apeho,” oyo onkhalelo tupondola okulekesa okuti tuna ekolelo liotyotyili

TRANSLATION

To “pray constantly” in this way shows we have genuine faith

References

  1. ↑ "Resultados Definitivos do Recenseamento Geral da População e Habitação - 2024" (PDF) (in Portuguese). 2025-11-20.
  2. ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ↑ Halme, Riikka (2011). Creating a common orthography for Nyaneka-Nkumbi. In Christina Thornell and Karsten Legère (eds.), North-South Contributions to African Languages: Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 95–109.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)