| Mono | |
| States: | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Region: | Northwestern corner of Congo (DRC) |
| Speakers: | 65,000 |
| Date: | 1984 census |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam1: | Niger–Congo? |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Volta–Congo |
| Fam4: | Savanna? |
| Fam5: | Ubangian |
| Fam6: | Banda |
| Fam7: | Central Banda |
| Fam8: | Mid-Southern |
| Iso3: | mnh |
| Glotto: | mono1270 |
| Glottorefname: | Mono (Democratic Republic of Congo) |
| Notice: | IPA |
Mono is a language spoken by about 65,000 people[1] in the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of the Banda languages, a subbranch of the Ubangian branch of the Niger–Congo languages. It has five dialects: Bili, Bubanda, Mpaka, Galaba, and Kaga.
Mono has 33 consonant phonemes, including three labial-velar stops (pronounced as //k͡p//, pronounced as //ɡ͡b//, and prenasalized pronounced as //ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b//), an asymmetrical eight-vowel system, and a labiodental flap pronounced as //ⱱ// (allophonically a bilabial flap pronounced as /[ⱳ]/) that contrasts with both pronounced as //v// and pronounced as //w//. It is a tonal language.
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ (m) | pronounced as /ink/ (n) | pronounced as /ink/ (ny) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/ Affricate | pronounced as /ink/ (p) | pronounced as /ink/ (t) | pronounced as /ink/ (tsh) | pronounced as /ink/ (k) | pronounced as /ink/ (kp) | pronounced as /ink/ (') | ||
| pronounced as /ink/ (b) | pronounced as /ink/ (d) | pronounced as /ink/ (dj) | pronounced as /ink/ (g) | pronounced as /ink/ (gb) | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ (mb) | pronounced as /ink/ (nd) | pronounced as /ink/ (ndj) | pronounced as /ink/ (ng) | pronounced as /ink/ (ngb) | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ ('b) | pronounced as /ink/ ('d) | |||||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /ink/ (f) | pronounced as /ink/ (s) | pronounced as /ink/ (sh) | pronounced as /ink/ (h) | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ (v) | pronounced as /ink/ (z) | pronounced as /ink/ (j) | ||||||
| Trill/Tap | pronounced as /ink/ ~ pronounced as /ink/ (vw) | pronounced as /ink/ (r) | ||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ (l) | pronounced as /ink/ (y) | pronounced as /ink/ (w) | |||||
| Close | pronounced as /ink/ (i) | pronounced as /ink/ (ɨ) | pronounced as /ink/ (u) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close-mid | pronounced as /ink/ (e) | pronounced as /ink/ (œ) | pronounced as /ink/ (o) | |
| Open-mid | pronounced as /ink/ (ɔ) | |||
| Open | pronounced as /ink/ (a) |
| IPA | ˥ (á) | ˧ (ā) | ˩ (à) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | High Level | Mid Level | Low Level | |
| Transcription | á | a | à | |
| Example | áwá (áwá) | āwā (awa) | àwà (àwà) | |
| English Meaning | "diarrhea" | "road" | "fear" |