# Myene language
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{{Short description|Bantu language spoken in Gabon}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Myene
|nativename=Omyene
|states=[Gabon](/source/Gabon)
|region=Ogooue-Maritime Province, Middle Ogooue Province
|ethnicity=[Myene](/source/Myene_people) ([Mpongwe](/source/Mpongwe_people), [Adyumba](/source/Adyumba_people), Nkomi, Galwa), [Bongo](/source/Bongo_people_(Gabon))
|speakers=45,000
|date=2007
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=[Atlantic–Congo](/source/Atlantic%E2%80%93Congo_languages)
|fam3=[Benue–Congo](/source/Benue%E2%80%93Congo_languages)
|fam4=[Bantoid](/source/Bantoid_languages)
|fam5=[Bantu](/source/Bantu_languages) ([Zone B](/source/Guthrie_classification_of_Bantu_languages))
|fam6=[Kele–Tsogo](/source/Kele%E2%80%93Tsogo_languages)?
|fam7=[Tsogo](/source/Tsogo_languages)?
|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](/source/Bantu_languages) varieties spoken in [Gabon](/source/Gabon) by about 46,000 people. It is perhaps the most divergent of the Narrow Bantu languages,[[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.] though Nurse & Philippson (2003) place it in with the [Tsogo languages](/source/Tsogo_languages) (B.30). The more distinctive varieties are [Mpongwe](/source/Mpongwe_people) (''Pongoué''), Galwa (''Galloa''), and Nkomi.
== Phonology ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Consonants[{{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}}][Ambouroue (2007)][Daouda (1988)]
! 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[{{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=}}][{{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=}}]
==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 p
*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.
{{Pygmy languages}}
{{Languages of Gabon}}
{{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones A–B)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myene language}}
Category:Tsogo languages
Category:Languages of Gabon
{{Bantu-lang-stub}}
{{Gabon-stub}}
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Myene language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myene_language) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myene_language?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.