| Ngwii | |
|---|---|
| Ngul | |
| Native to | DRC |
Native speakers | 8,000 |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nlo |
| Glottolog | ngul1247 |
Ngwii or Ngul is a Bantu language spoken in the Kwilu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Despite having a relatively small speech community, use of the language is prevalent.
Ngwii has 37 consonants and 7 vowels:
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Labiovelar | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | plain | p, b | d, t | k | |||||
| prenasalized | ᵐb, ᵐp | ⁿd, ⁿt | ᵑk, ᵑg | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Fricative | plain | f, v | s | ʃ, ʒ | ʁ | ||||
| prenasalized | ᵐf, ᵐv | ||||||||
| Affricative | plain | p͡f | t͡s, d͡z | t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ | |||||
| prenasalized | ᵐp͡f | ⁿt͡s, ⁿd͡z | ⁿt͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ | ||||||
| Approximant | w | j | |||||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid-high | ɤ | ||
| Mid/Mid-low | e [ɛ] | ə | o [ɔ] |
| Low | a |
Like other Niger-Congo languages, Ngwii has a base ten counting system where numbers after ten use the conjunction "ni" to add another number to reach higher values.
The first 20 numerals in Ngwii are