Ngambay language

Ngambay
Ngambay
Gambaye
Native to	Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria
Ethnicity	Sara
Native speakers	1.38 million (2005–2013)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Central Sudanic Bongo–Bagirmi Sara languages West Ngambay; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sba
Glottolog	ngam1268

Ngambay (also known as Sara, Sara Ngambai, Gamba, Gambaye, Gamblai and Ngambai) is one of the major languages spoken by Sara people in southwestern Chad, northeastern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria, with about a million native speakers. Ngambay is the most widely spoken of the Sara languages, and is used as a trade language between speakers of other dialects. It is spoken by the Sara Gambai people.

Ngambay has Subject–Verb–Object word order.^[2] Suffixes indicate case.^[2] There is no tense; aspect is indicated by a perfective–imperfective distinction.^[2] Modifiers follow nouns.^[2] The numeral system is decimal, but eight and nine are expressed as 10-minus-two and 10-minus-one.^[3] It is a tone language with three tones: high, mid, and low.^[4] There are loan words from both Arabic and French.^[4]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Labial- velar	Velar
Plosive	voiceless	p	t			k
	voiced	b	d	dʒ		ɡ
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
	prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ⁿd͡ʒ		ᵑɡ
Nasal		m	n	ɲ
Fricative			s
Trill/Flap		ⱱ	r
Lateral			l
Approximant				j	w

Vowels/Nasal Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ĩ		u ũ
Close-mid	ɛ ɛ̃	ə	o õ
Open-mid	ɛ ɛ̃	ə	ɔ ɔ̃
Open		a ã

Tones & Nasalization

The three tones are high /á/, mid /ā/ and low /à/. Vowels can also be nasalised: /ã/.^[5]

References

^ Ngambay at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The World Atlas of Language Structures Online: Ngambay. Accessed November, 2008.
^ Numeral Systems of the World's Languages: Ngambay. Department of Linguistics, Max Planck Institute, Leipzig. Accessed November, 2008.
^ ^a ^b 50 Lessons in Sara-Ngambay, Volume 1., by Linda J. Thayer, James E. Thayer, Noé Kyambé and Adoum Eloi Gondjé. Indiana University, 1971. Accessed November 2008.
^ Sarah Moeller, Mekoulnodji Ndjerareou, Christy Melick (2010). A Brief Grammatical Sketch of Ngambay (PDF).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

The Sara-Bagirmi Language Project – Ngambay

This Nilo-Saharan languages–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[e26-1] Ngambay at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)

[atlas-2] The World Atlas of Language Structures Online: Ngambay. Accessed November, 2008.

[3] Numeral Systems of the World's Languages: Ngambay. Department of Linguistics, Max Planck Institute, Leipzig. Accessed November, 2008.

[lessons-4] 50 Lessons in Sara-Ngambay, Volume 1., by Linda J. Thayer, James E. Thayer, Noé Kyambé and Adoum Eloi Gondjé. Indiana University, 1971. Accessed November 2008.

[5] Sarah Moeller, Mekoulnodji Ndjerareou, Christy Melick (2010). A Brief Grammatical Sketch of Ngambay (PDF).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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