Myene language

{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in Gabon}} {{Infobox language |name=Myene |nativename=Omyene |states=Gabon |region=Ogooue-Maritime Province, Middle Ogooue Province |ethnicity=Myene (Mpongwe, Adyumba, Nkomi, Galwa), Bongo |speakers=45,000 |date=2007 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo |fam3=Benue–Congo |fam4=Bantoid |fam5=Bantu (Zone B) |fam6=Kele–Tsogo? |fam7=Tsogo? |dia1=Mpongwe |dia2=Orungu |dia3=Galwa |dia4=Nkomi |iso3=mye |glotto=myen1241 |glottorefname=Myene |guthrie=B.11 }}

'''Myene''' is a cluster of closely related Bantu varieties spoken in Gabon by about 46,000 people. It is perhaps the most divergent of the Narrow Bantu languages,<ref>[http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/ehret/kinship/BantuClassification%204-09.pdf Bantu Classification] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624221430/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/ehret/kinship/BantuClassification%204-09.pdf |date=2012-06-24 }}, Ehret, 2009.</ref> though Nurse & Philippson (2003) place it in with the Tsogo languages (B.30). The more distinctive varieties are Mpongwe (''Pongoué''), Galwa (''Galloa''), and Nkomi.

== Phonology == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Consonants<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jacquot |first=A. |title=Etude de la phonologie et de la morphologie myene |year=1976 |location=Etudes Bantoues II, Bulletin SELAF 53 |pages=13–79}}</ref><ref>Ambouroue (2007)</ref><ref>Daouda (1988)</ref> ! colspan="2" | !Bilabial !Labio- dental !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |m | |n |ɲ |ŋ |- ! rowspan="4" |Stop/ Affricate !voiceless |p | |t |tʃ |k |- !voiced |b | |d |dʒ |ɡ |- !prenasal vl. |ᵐp | |ⁿt |ᶮtʃ |ᵑk |- !prenasal vd. |ᵐb | |ⁿd |ᶮdʒ |ᵑg |- ! rowspan="2" |Fricative !voiceless | |f |s |ʃ | |- !voiced |β |v |z | |(ɣ) |- ! colspan="2" |Approximant | | |l |j |w |- ! colspan="2" |Trill | | |r | | |}

* /ɡ/ is also heard as [ɣ] in free variation when preceding vowels or semivowels depending on articulation. * Voiced sounds /b, d, dʒ/ may also be heard as implosives [ɓ, ɗ, ɗ̠ʲ] in free variation across dialects. * In the Adyumba dialect /dʒ/ may also be heard as [dz] in free variation. * Sounds /ᶮtʃ, ᶮdʒ/ may also be heard as prenasal alveolar affricates [ⁿts, ⁿdz] across dialects. * /w/ may be heard as more palatal [ɥ] when before front vowel sounds. * A nasalized labio-velar sound /w̃/ may also be attested in the Mpongwe dialect.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Vowels<ref name=":0" /> ! !Front !Back |- !Close |i |u |- !Close-mid |e |o |- !Open-mid |ɛ |ɔ |- !Open | colspan="2" |a |}

==Dictionary==

Jean-Rémy Bessieux published a Pongwe dictionary in 1847.<ref name=DACB>{{cite web |url= https://dacb.org/stories/gabon/bessieux-jeanremi2/ |title= Bessieux, Jean-Rémi (version B)|author= |date= |website= Dictionary of African Christian Biography |publisher= |access-date= November 20, 2025 |quote=}}</ref><ref name=DU >{{cite web |url= https://dsc.duq.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1396&context=spiritan-horizons |title= Jean-Remi Bessieux (1803-1876) and the Founding of the Catholic Church in Gabon |last= Nicolas |first= François |date= 1 October 2022|website= Duquesne University, Duquesne Scholarship Collection |publisher= Spiritan Horizons, Volume 19, Issue 19 |access-date= December 16, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== *Ambouroue, Odette (2007). ''Éléments de description de l'Orungu: Langue bantu du Gabon (B11b)''. Brussels: Université Libre de Bruxelles dissertation. *Eyang Effa, Edwige (2002). ''Phonologie du myen'orungu, langue bantoue du Gabon B11b''. Libreville: Université Omar Bongo. *Jacquot, A. (1976) ''Etude de la phonologie et de la morphologie myene'', in ''Etudes Bantoues II'', Bulletin SELAF 53, Paris, 13–79. *Patrick Mouguiama Daouda (1988). ''Éléments de description du mpongwe : Phonologie, morphologie du système nominal et pronominal'' (mémoire de maîtrise). Université Omar Bongo. 154 <abbr>p</abbr> *Philippson, G. & G. Puech (1996) '[https://web.archive.org/web/20061116104706/http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/Annuaires/PDF/Philippson/Philippson_1996.pdf Tonal domains in Galwa (Bantu, B11c)'] The Bantu languages *Soumaho Ditoubilianou, Prisca Armelle (2001). ''Esquisse d'une phonologie fonctionnelle du Galwa''. Libreville: Université Omar Bongo. *Teisseres, Urbain (1957). ''Méthode pratique pour apprendre l'omyènè''. 2nd edn. Paris: Société des Missions Evangéliques

== External links == * ELAR archive of [http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0272 Comparative documentation of the Myene language cluster: Adyumba, Enenga, Galwa, Mpongwe, Nkomi and Orungu]

#{{note|parler}} le myènè en ligne sur : '[http://awanawintche.com/ awanawintche.com'], le myene en ligne : proverbes, contes, cours en audio mp3, histoires, rites et légendes o'myènè.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myene language}} Category:Tsogo languages Category:Languages of Gabon