Mambay language

Not to be confused with Mambae language.

Mambay
Mangbai
Native to	Cameroon, Chad
Native speakers	14,000 (2002–2011)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Mbum–Day Mbum Northern Mbum Tupuri–Mambai Mambay
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mcs
Glottolog	mamb1294
ELP	Mambai

Mambay (Mamgbay, Mangbai) is a Mbum language of northern Cameroon and southern Chad.

Distribution

In Cameroon, Mambay is spoken along the Mayo-Kebi River near the Chadian border, in the Djaloumé region (northern end of Bibemi commune, Bénoué department), where there is a massif called Hosséré Mambay. It is also spoken in the extreme southeast of Figuil commune, Mayo-Louti department. In Cameroon and Chad, there is a total of about 2,500 speakers, many of whom also speak Mundang.

Phonology

Consonants

29 consonants are present in Mambay.

Consonants of Mambay

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k	kp
	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡb
Fricative	voiceless	f	s
	voiced	v	z
Nasal	plain	m	n		ŋ
	glottalic	ˀm	ˀn		ˀŋ
Flap/Trill		ⱱ̟	r
Glottalic		ɓ	ɗ	ˀj		ˀw	ʔ
Approximant			l	j		w	h

All information below comes from Anonby (2008).

Loans

The affricate [dʒ] and the prenasalized consonants [ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ] are found in loan words from Fula.

Obstruents

The bilabial /p b/ and velar /k ɡ/ plosives, as well as the labiodental /f v/ and alveolar /s z/ fricatives, only have a voiced–voiceless contrast in morpheme-initial position; elsewhere, the contrast is absent.

In syllable codas, medial, and final positions, the bilabial /p ~ b/ and alveolar /t ~ d/ plosives are realized as unreleased voiceless, [p̚] and [t̚].

When lacking voicing contrast, the velar plosives /k ~ ɡ/ are realized as:

• unreleased voiceless velar plosive [k̚] after front vowels in syllable codas, medial (in careful speech) and final positions
• unreleased voiceless uvular plosive [q̚] after back vowels in syllable codas, medial (in careful speech) and final positions
• voiced velar fricative [ɣ] after front vowels in medial position (in typical and fast speech)
• voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] after back vowels in medial position (in typical and fast speech)

Glottalics

The bilabial glottalic /ɓ/ is realized as:

• voiced implosive [ɓ] in initial position
• preglottalized voiced implosive [ˀɓ] in medial position
• preglottalized and unreleased voiceless plosive [ˀp̚] in syllabe coda

The alveolar glottalic /ɗ/ is realized as:

• retroflex implosive [ᶑ ] in initial position
• preglottalized retroflex implosive [ˀᶑ ] in medial position
• preglottalized and glottalized lateral approximant [ˀl̰ ] in syllable coda

The contrastive status of the glottal stop /ʔ/ as an independent consonant is uncertain (see § Semivowels). The patterning of the glottal fricative /h/ is also uncertain. When preceding long vowels, the semivowels /j w/ alternate with [h] in initial (both morpheme- and syllable-initial) positions.

Rhotic

The alveolar /r/ is realized as:

• retroflex flap [ɽ] in initial and medial position
• alveolar trill [r] in syllable coda, and less commonly in initial position

Semivowels

The palatal semivowel /j/ is nasalized [j̃] when adjacent to nasal vowels. In contrast, the labiovelar semivowel /w/ does not have a stable nasalized realization [w̃] when adjacent to nasal vowels. However, the nasal labiovelar [ŋʷ ~ w̃] may behave similarly to [w] when before back vowels, with both merging to [h], suggesting /w/ may be the underlying phoneme.

If the glottal stop is interpreted as contrastive, then the preglottalized palatal /ˀj/ and labiovelar /ˀw/ semivowels are analyzed as clusters, [ʔj] and [ʔw]. Before nasalized and pharyngealized close vowels, /ˀj/ is realized as an epiglottal trilled affricate [ʡʢ].

Nasals

The palatal nasals [ɲ ˀɲ] are found in a subset of onset and coda positions, but are realized as nasalized semivowels [j̃ ˀj̃] in medial position after nasal segments. Anonby (2008) analyzes these sounds as nasal variants of the palatal semivowels /j ˀj/.

The velar nasal /ŋ/ is realized as palatal [ɲ] after front vowels; however, if it is followed by a velar plosive /k g/, then its articulation remains velar. Anonby (2008)'s data did not include any examples of the preglottalized velar nasal /ˀŋ/ after front vowels, so a conclusion about its realizations was not made. Labialized velar nasals [ŋʷ ˀŋʷ] are found in a subset of onset and coda positions, but are realized as nasalized semivowels [w̃ ˀw̃] in medial position after nasal segments. Anonby (2008) analyzes these sounds as nasal variants of the labiovelar semivowels /w ˀw/.

Pharyngealization

Pharyngeal articulations are particularly challenging to analyze in Mambay. Three possible explanations exist:

• that pharyngealization is a quality of consonants;
• that pharyngealization is a quality of vowels;
• that pharyngealization is a suprasegmental feature associated with larger units such as syllables and syllable rhymes

All three have their own limitations, with a vocalic interpretation as a best fit for morpheme structures and phonologically suitable. This interpretation is used throughout Anonby (2008).

Vowels

Five vowel units are present in Mambay. These units are modified by length, nasalization, pharyngealization, and glottalization, creating a total of 30 qualities.

Vowels according to Anonby (2008)

		Front				Central				Back
		short	long	glott.	phar.	short	long	glott.	phar.	short	long	glott.	phar.
High	oral	i	iː	iˀ						u	uː	uˀ
	nasal	ĩ	ĩː	ĩˀ	ĩˤ					ũ	ũː	ũˀ	ũˤ
Mid	oral	e	eː	eˀ	eˤ					o	oː	oˀ	oˤ
Low						a	aː	aˀ	aˤ
	nasal					ã	ãː	ãˀ	ãˤ

Nasal mid vowels (*/ẽ õ/ and variants) and high oral pharyngeal vowels (*/iˤ uˤ/) are absent from Mambay. Glottalized and pharyngealized vowels do not contrast length, and cannot co-occur on a single vowel.

References

• Anonby, Erik John (2008), Phonology and Morphology of Mambay (Niger-Congo, Adamawa), hdl:1887/13045