Ki language
| Ki | |
|---|---|
| Tuki | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
Native speakers | (26,000 cited 1982) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bag – inclusive codeIndividual codes: leo – Letimct – Mengisa (duplicate code) |
| Glottolog | tuki1240 |
A.601 (ex-A.61,64), possibly also A.63 | |
The Ki language, Tuki (Baki, Oki), is a Mbam language of Cameroon. It is spoken by 26,000 people in the Central Province of Cameroon, in the Lekie division and in the Mbam and Kim division, along the Sanaga river.
The dialects are Kombe (Tukombe), Cenga (Tocenga), Tsinga (Tutsingo), Bundum, Njo (Tonjo), Ngoro (Tu Ngoro), Mbere (Tumvele) and possibly Leti/Mengisa and Mbwasa.
Phonology
Tuki distinguishes six phonetic vowels. It distinguishes between long and short vowels.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
The consonants are as follows.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar/Glottal | Labiovelar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop/Affricate | Voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | k͡p |
| Voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | g | g͡b | |
| Prenasalized | ⁿb | ⁿd | ⁿd͡ʒ | ⁿg <ng> | ⁿg͡b | |
| Fricative | Voiceless | s | h | |||
| Voiced | β | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ <ny> | ŋ <ng> | ||
| Approximant | ɾ | j | w | |||
Grammar
As in most Bantu languages, the noun consists of a class prefix and a stem. Verbs are conjugated for the noun class of the subject and object. The primary word order is SVO.
