| Lese | |
| Nativename: | Efé |
| Region: | Ituri forest |
| States: | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Speakers: | 70,000 |
| Date: | 1991 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Nilo-Saharan |
| Fam2: | Central Sudanic |
| Fam3: | Eastern |
| Fam4: | Mangbutu–Lese |
| Lc1: | les |
| Ld1: | Lese |
| Lc2: | efe |
| Ld2: | Efe |
| Glotto: | lese1243 |
| Glottoname: | Lese |
| Glotto2: | efee1239 |
| Glottoname2: | Efe |
Lese is a Central Sudanic language of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as a name for the people who speak this language. The Lese people live in association with the Efé Pygmies and share their language, which is occasionally known as Lissi or Efe.
Although Efe is given a separate ISO code, Bahuchet (2006) notes that it is not even a distinct dialect, though there is dialectical variation in the language of the Lese (Dese, Karo).[1]
Lese is spoken in Mambasa Territory, Watsa Territory, and Irumu Territory.[2]
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Labial– velar | Labial- uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| implosive | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| Lateral | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Rhotic | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Near-close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Close-mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Open-mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |