{{Short description|Nilo-Saharan language spoken in DR Congo}} {{Infobox language |name=Lendu |nativename=Balendru |states=Democratic Republic of Congo |ethnicity={{ill|Balendru people|lt=Lendu|fr|Lendu (peuple)}}, Hema, Alur, Okebu |speakers=760,000, including Ndrulo |date=1996 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Nilo-Saharan |fam2=Central Sudanic |fam3=Eastern |fam4=Lenduic |iso3=led |glotto=lend1245 |glottorefname=Lendu |lingua=03-BAD |dia1=Badha }}

The '''Lendu''' language is a Central Sudanic language spoken by the Balendru, an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, specifically the Ituri Province. It is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages. There are three-quarters of a million Lendu speakers in the DRC. A conflict between the Lendu and the Hema was the basis of the Ituri conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFRICA {{!}} 101 Last Tribes - Lendu people |url=https://www.101lasttribes.com/tribes/lendu.html |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=www.101lasttribes.com}}</ref>

Besides the Balendru, Lendu is spoken as a native language by a portion of the Hema, Alur, and Okebu. In Uganda, the Lendu tribe live in the districts of Nebbi and Zombo districts, northwest of Lake Albert.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

==Names== ''Ethnologue'' gives ''Bbadha'' as an alternate name of Lendu, but Blench (2000) lists ''Badha'' as a distinct language. A draft listing of Nilo-Saharan languages, [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Nilo-Saharan/General/NS%20language%20list.pdf available from his website] and dated 2012, lists ''Lendu/Badha''.

==Phonology==

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Central !Back |- !Close | {{IPA link|i}} | | {{IPA link|u}} |- align="center" !Near-close | {{IPA link|ɪ}} | | {{IPA link|ʊ}} |- !Mid | {{IPA link|ɛ}} | {{IPA link|ə}} | {{IPA link|ɔ}} |- align="center" !Open | | {{IPA link|a}} | |}

=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" |Labial ! colspan="2" |Dental/<br>Alveolar ! rowspan="2" |Post-<br>alveolar ! rowspan="2" |Palatal ! rowspan="2" |Velar ! rowspan="2" |Labial-<br>velar ! rowspan="2" |Glottal |- !{{Small|central}} !{{Small|sibilant}} |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | | {{IPA link|ɲ}} | ({{IPA link|ŋ}}) | | |- ! rowspan="5" |Stop/<br>Affricate !{{Small|voiceless}} | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|t͡s}} | {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} | | {{IPA link|k}} | {{IPA link|k͡p}} | {{IPA link|ʔ}} |- !{{Small|voiced}} | {{IPA link|b}} | {{IPA link|d}} | {{IPA link|d͡z}} | {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} | {{IPA link|ɟ}} | {{IPA link|ɡ}} | {{IPA link|ɡ͡b}} | |- !{{Small|prenasal}} | {{IPA link|ᵐb}} | {{IPA link|ⁿd}} | | {{IPA link|ᶮd͡ʒ}} | | {{IPA link|ᵑɡ}} | {{IPA link|ᵑᵐɡ͡b}} | |- !{{Small|vl. implosive}} | {{IPA link|ɓ̥}} | {{IPA link|ɗ̥}} | | | {{IPA link|ʄ̊}} | | | |- !{{Small|vd. implosive}} | {{IPA link|ɓ}} | {{IPA link|ɗ}} | | | {{IPA link|ʄ}} | | | |- ! rowspan="3" |Fricative !{{Small|voiceless}} | {{IPA link|f}} | {{IPA link|θ}} | {{IPA link|s}} | {{IPA link|ʃ}} | | | | {{IPA link|h}} |- !{{Small|voiced}} | {{IPA link|v}} | {{IPA link|ð}} | {{IPA link|z}} | {{IPA link|ʒ}} | | | | |- !{{Small|prenasal}} | | | {{IPA link|ⁿz}} | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Rhotic | | {{IPA link|r}} | | {{IPA link|ɽ}} | | | | |- ! rowspan="2" |Approximant !{{Small|plain}} | | {{IPA link|l}} | | | {{IPA link|j}} | | {{IPA link|w}} | |- !{{Small|glottalized}} | | | | | | | {{IPA link|ʼw}} | |}

* {{IPA|[ŋ]}} is mainly heard as an allophone of {{IPA|/n/}} when preceding velar consonants.

==== Implosives ==== Demolin (1995)<ref>Demolin, Didier. 1995. The phonetics and phonology of glottalized consonants in Lendu. In Connell, Bruce and Arvaniti, Amalia (eds.), Phonology and Phonetic Evidence. Papers in Laboratory Phonology IV, 368-385. Cambridge Univ. Press.</ref> posits that Lendu has voiceless implosives, {{IPA|/ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ʄ̊/}} ({{IPA|/ƥ ƭ ƈ/}}). However, Goyvaerts (1988)<ref>Goyvaerts, Didier L. 1988. Glottalized Consonants a New Dimension. Belgian Journal of Linguistics 3. 97-102. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.</ref> had described these as creaky-voiced implosives {{IPA|/ɓ̰ ɗ̰ ʄ̰/}}, as in Hausa, contrasting with a series of modally voiced implosives {{IPA|/ɓ ɗ ʄ/}} as in Kalabari, and Ladefoged judges that this seems to be a more accurate description.<ref>{{SOWL|87–89}}</ref>

== Grammar == Like many Central Sudanic languages, Lendu:

* Uses tone distinctions * Has noun class-like system * Uses agglutinative morphology * Follows Subject- Verb- Object word order

== Writing system == Lendu is primarily an oral language, though:

* latin- based orthographies have been developed * Religious and educational materials exist * Bible translations have been produced

== Sociolinguistic status ==

* Language vitality: Vigorous * Main usage: Rural communities * Written materials: Limited but growing * Education use: Minimal

== See also ==

* Central Sudanic language * Ngiti language * Nilo-Sahara languages * Ituri conflict

==References== {{Reflist}}

* Kutsch-Lojenga, Constance. 1989. ''The Secret behind Vowelless Syllables in Lendu''. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 11. 115–126. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. * Tucker, Archibald N. 1940. ''Lendu''. In The Eastern Sudanic Languages: Volume I, 380–418. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Trifkovic, Mirjana. 1977. ''Tone preserving vowel reduction in Lendu''. Studies in African Linguistics 8. 121–125. * {{Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}} {{Central Sudanic languages}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Central Sudanic languages Category:Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Category:Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo