Kukuya language should not be confused with Kukuya language (Papua New Guinea).
| Kukuya | |
| Nativename: | Southern Teke |
| Region: | Plateaux Department |
| States: | Republic of the Congo |
| Speakers: | 39,000 |
| Date: | 2000 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Benue–Congo |
| Fam4: | Southern Bantoid |
| Fam5: | Bantu (Zone B) |
| Fam6: | Teke (B.70) |
| Script: | unwritten |
| Iso3: | kkw |
| Glotto: | teke1280 |
| Glottorefname: | Teke-Kukuya |
| Guthrie: | B.77a |
| Notice: | IPA |
The Kukuya language, Kikukuya pronounced as /kìkýkȳā/, also transcribed Kukẅa and known as Southern Teke, is a member of the Teke dialect continuum of the Congolese plateau. It is the only language known to have a phonemic labiodental nasal pronounced as //ɱ//. The name of the language comes from the word kuya "plateau".
The five vowels are pronounced as //i e~ɛ a o~ɔ u//, which may be long (double) or short. Other vowel sequences do not occur. pronounced as //u// is realised as pronounced as /[y]/ in the environment pronounced as //ɲuni// (pronounced as /[ɲyni]/) and also before pronounced as /[j]/ or another pronounced as /[y]/, as in the name Kukuya pronounced as /[kýkȳā]/.
| Bilabial | Labio- Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /m/ | pronounced as /ɱ/ | pronounced as /n/ | pronounced as /ɲ/ | pronounced as /ŋ/ | ||||||||
| Plosive | Prenasalized | pronounced as /ᵐpʰ/ | pronounced as /ᵐb/ | pronounced as /ⁿtʰ/ | pronounced as /ⁿd/ | pronounced as /ᵑkʰ/ | pronounced as /ᵑɡ/ | ||||||
| Plain | pronounced as /p/ | pronounced as /b/ | pronounced as /t/ | pronounced as /d/ | pronounced as /k~ɡ/ | ||||||||
| Affricate | Prenasalized | pronounced as /ᶬp̪fʰ/ | pronounced as / ᶬb̪v/ | pronounced as /ⁿtsʰ/ | pronounced as /ⁿdz/ | ||||||||
| Plain | pronounced as /p̪f/ | pronounced as /b̪v/ | pronounced as /ts/ | pronounced as /dz/ | |||||||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /f/ | pronounced as /s/ | pronounced as /z~j/ | (pronounced as /h/) | |||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /l/ | pronounced as /w/ | |||||||||||
Prenasalized voiceless consonants are aspirated. Depending on speaker and region, the sound represented by (y) may be either pronounced as /[j]/ or pronounced as /[z]/, apart from the word "with", which is always pronounced as /[jà]/. The labiodental nasal is realized as pronounced as /[ɱʷ]/ before pronounced as //a// and as pronounced as /[ɱ]/ before pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //e//; suggests that this is due to a conflict between labialization and the spread front vowels. The velar stop is pronounced as /[k]/ word initially and typically pronounced as /[ɡ]/ between vowels; there is a similar alternation with pronounced as /[t]/ and pronounced as /[ɾ]/. pronounced as //mpf/, /ɱʷ/, /n// and especially pronounced as //d// are uncommon. pronounced as //h// is found in a single highly frequent word, pronounced as //hé// ('also').
Cw sequences are rare and only occur before unrounded vowels; they include pronounced as //tw/ [tɕɥ], /sw/ [ɕɥ], /ndzw/ [ndʒɥ], /jw/ [ʑɥ], /kw/ [kɥ]/. (C cannot be pronounced as //f, l//.) It may be possible that the frequent sounds pronounced as /[pf, bv, ɱʷ]/ (which occur before pronounced as //i a u, i e a u, i e a//, respectively) are phonemically pronounced as //pw, bw, mw//, but argues against this analysis. pronounced as /[ɱʷ]/ corresponds to pronounced as /[ŋ͡m ~ ŋʷ]/ in neighboring Teke languages. Cj sequences such as pronounced as //pj, kj// are also rare (a dozen cases) and only occur before pronounced as //a//. It may be possible that the frequent sounds pronounced as /[ts, dz, ɲ]/ are phonemically pronounced as //tj, dj, nj//, but they are not restricted as to following vowels and argues against this analysis. Diachronically, Kukwa affricates derive from stops before close vowels or vowel sequences, and pronounced as //pf// derives from *k rather than *p. The labiodentals are not found before pronounced as //o//. pronounced as //n// is not attested before pronounced as //u//, and pronounced as //ŋ// is not found in underived words before pronounced as //i, u//.
Prenasalized affricates are generally transcribed mf, mv, ns, nz. Phonemic neutralization may occur when consonants are prenasalized:
N + pronounced as //p, w// → pronounced as //mp//
N + pronounced as //pf, f// → pronounced as //ɱp̪f// ("mf")
N + pronounced as //d, l// → pronounced as //nd//
N + pronounced as //ts, s// → pronounced as //nts// ("ns")
N + pronounced as //dz, j// → pronounced as //ndz// ("nz")
Syllables are primarily CV, with some CwV and CjV; vowel-initial syllables do not occur. Roots (not counting nominal prefixes and the like) are of the forms CV, CVV, CVCV, CVVCV, and CVCVCV. In the latter case, the middle vowel is neutralized. There are only six medial consonants, pronounced as //k [ɡ], t [ɾ], n, m, l, p [b]//, and six combinations of medial C2C3 in the case of CVCVCV words, pronounced as //–n–m, –t–p, –t–k, –l–p, –l–k, ?//.
posits both tone and stress, with tone being high or low, though not every syllable is assigned a tone: there are five word-tone patterns in the language. Vowels may carry two tones to accomplish this.
A phonemic labiodental nasal, pronounced as //ɱ//, has only been reported from this one language. It is "accompanied by strong protrusion of both lips", being pronounced as /[ɱʷ]/ before pronounced as //a// and pronounced as /[ɱ]/ before pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //e//, perhaps because labialization is constrained by the spread front vowels; it does not occur before back (rounded) vowels. However, there is some doubt that a true stop can be made by this gesture due to gaps between the incisors, which are filed to points by the Teke people and would allow air to flow during the occlusion; this is particularly pertinent considering that one of the words with this consonant, pronounced as //ɱáá//, means a 'gap between filed incisors'. Because of these factors, Teke pronounced as //ɱ// might be better characterized as a labiodental nasal approximant (pronounced as /[ʋ̃]/ in IPA), rather than a nasal occlusive.
Given its rarity, it is worth providing some minimal pairs with other consonants:
ɱíì eyes, míì urine, pfìí small opening
kì-mààlà to complete the rest, kì-ɱààlà to laugh at
ɱé they (class 4), bvé they (class 8), fè bulb, mfê the cold
kì-ɱànàmà to rejoice, kì-bvànàmà to shake with fear
ɱáá gap between filed incisors, mbváá interval
ɱáanà baby, mà-mbvàànì to meet