Bila language: Difference between revisions
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'''Bila''' is a [[Bantu language]] spoken by the [[Mbuti]] Pygmies called [[Kango people|Kango]] and Sua (Batchua). The other Mbuti speak [[Central Sudanic languages]]. The Kango and Sua speak distinct dialects (southern and northern), but not enough to impair mutual intelligibility with their farming Bila patrons. |
'''Bila''' is a [[Bantu language]] spoken by the [[Mbuti]] Pygmies called [[Kango people|Kango]] and Sua (Batchua). The other Mbuti speak [[Central Sudanic languages]]. The Kango and Sua speak distinct dialects (southern and northern), but not enough to impair mutual intelligibility with their farming Bila patrons. |
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In the Beni and Lubero areas of D.R.Congo, west of the Ruwenzori mountain area, we are presented with languages so different from the rest of the grouping that they have been called by the name "Sub-Bantu" <ref>Margaret Arminel Bryan, ''The Bantu Languages of Africa'' Oxford University Press 1959. pages 89-91.</ref>: in linguistic terms, this merely means that some of the typically Bantu grammatical features are missing - just as they are with many a language of undoubted Bantu affiliations - an example is Bulu in Cameroon.<ref>grammatical analysis based on: ''Mfufub Bibel La Bible en Bulu'' Alliance Biblique du Cameroun, Yaounde, 1976.</ref> It is not clear precisely what this means in the case of Bila and related languages of the area. Bryan <ref>''The Bantu Languages of Africa'' - as above.</ref> mentions a '''KuMbuti''' or '''KiMbuti''' spoken by the Bambuti Pygmies "scattered among the forest Ba-Bila", and with "certain peculiarities ... (especially as regards pronunciation)". "Forest Bila or KuBira is assigned to about 6,000 people (in 1959) in the Beni and Epulu areas, while "KiBira" is used on the "Shari plain", 29 degrees 50 minutes to 30 degrees 20 minutes east, 1 degree 25 minutes to 1 degree 50 minutes north. There is reportedly a "marked difference between the speech of the forest Babila and that of the Babira of the plain" - which, perhaps makes them separate languages, depending on the definition. |
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Revision as of 21:36, 25 May 2012
| Bila | |
|---|---|
| Kango, Sua | |
| Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Region | Ituri forest |
| Ethnicity | Kango (Wochua?) |
Native speakers | (40,000 cited 1998) |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:bip – Bilakzy – Kango–Sua |
Bila is a Bantu language spoken by the Mbuti Pygmies called Kango and Sua (Batchua). The other Mbuti speak Central Sudanic languages. The Kango and Sua speak distinct dialects (southern and northern), but not enough to impair mutual intelligibility with their farming Bila patrons.
Other References
- Serge BAHUCHET, 2006. "Languages of the African Rainforest « Pygmy » Hunter-Gatherers: Language Shifts without Cultural Admixture."[1] In Historical linguistics and hunter-gatherers populations in global perspective. Leipzig.