{{Short description|Bantu dialect continuum of Central Africa}} {{Infobox language |name=North Teke |nativename=''Tɛgɛ'' |states=[[Republic of the Congo|Congo]], [[Gabon]] |speakers={{sigfig|139,300|2}} |date=2000–2011 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=[[Atlantic–Congo]] |fam3=[[Benue–Congo]] |fam4=[[Southern Bantoid]] |fam5=[[Bantu languages|Bantu]] ([[Guthrie classification of Bantu languages#Zone B|Zone B]]) |fam6=[[Teke languages|Teke]] (B.70) |iso3=teg |glotto=teke1275 |glottorefname=Teke-Tege |guthrie=B.71 }}
'''North Teke''', or '''Tɛgɛ''' (Tege, Teghe, Itege), is a member of the [[Teke languages]] [[dialect continuum]] of the Congolese plateau.
== Phonology ==
=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! colspan="2" | ![[Labial consonant|Labial]] ![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ![[Velar consonant|Velar]] |- ! rowspan="4" |[[Plosive]] !<small>voiceless</small> |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} | |{{IPA link|k}} |- !<small>voiced</small> |{{IPA link|b}} |{{IPA link|d}} | |{{IPA link|ɡ}} |- !<small>prenasal vl.</small> |{{IPA link|ᵐp}} |{{IPA link|ⁿt}} | |{{IPA link|ᵑk}} |- !<small>prenasal vd.</small> |{{IPA link|ᵐb}} |{{IPA link|ⁿd}} | |{{IPA link|ᵑɡ}} |- ! rowspan="4" |[[Affricate]] !<small>voiceless</small> |{{IPA link|p͡f}} |{{IPA link|t͡s}} |{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} | |- !<small>voiced</small> |{{IPA link|b͡v}} |colspan=2|{{IPA link|d͡z}}~{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} | |- !<small>prenasal vl.</small> |{{IPA link|ᶬp͡f}} |colspan=2|{{IPA link|ⁿt͡s}}~{{IPA link|ⁿt͡ʃ}} | |- !<small>prenasal vd.</small> |{{IPA link|ᶬb͡v}} |colspan=2|{{IPA link|ⁿd͡z}}~{{IPA link|ⁿd͡ʒ}} | |- ! rowspan="4" |[[Fricative]] !<small>voiceless</small> |{{IPA link|f}} |{{IPA link|s}} |{{IPA link|ʃ}} | |- !<small>voiced</small> |{{IPA link|v}} | | |({{IPA link|ɣ}}) |- !<small>prenasal vl.</small> |{{IPA link|ᶬf}} | | | |- !<small>prenasal vd.</small> |{{IPA link|ᶬv}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} |{{IPA link|ɲ}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} |- ! rowspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]] ![[Tap consonant|<small>tap</small>]] | |{{IPA link|ɾ}} | | |- ![[Trill consonant|<small>trill</small>]] | |{{IPA link|r}} | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]] |{{IPA link|w}} |{{IPA link|l}} |{{IPA link|j}} | |}
* /b/ can also be heard as [ɓ] in free variation. * /ɡ/ can be heard as [ɣ] when in between vowels.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tsoue |first=Pamela C. |title=Etude des marqueurs verbaux du lètὲɣὲ: langue bantu parlee au Gabon (B71a) |publisher=Université François Rabelais de Tours |year=2017}}</ref> * Sounds /d͡ʒ, ⁿt͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ/ can also be heard as alveolar [d͡z, ⁿt͡s, ⁿd͡z] in free variation. * The following sounds can be labialized as [bʷ, kʷ, fʷ, sʷ, d͡zʷ, ɲʷ, lʷ, mʷ, ᵐbʷ, ⁿt͡ʃʷ, ⁿd͡ʒʷ, ᵑkʷ, ᵑɡʷ]. * The labialized sounds /kʷ, ᵑkʷ/ can also be heard as [k͡p, ᵑk͡p]. * The following sounds can be palatalized as [pʲ, bʲ, kʲ, fʲ, sʲ, t͡sʲ, lʲ, mʲ, ᵐpʲ, ᵐbʲ, ⁿt͡ʃʲ].
=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! ![[Front vowel|Front]] ![[Central vowel|Central]] ![[Back vowel|Back]] |- ![[Close vowel|Close]] |{{IPA link|i}} | |{{IPA link|u}} |- ![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]] |{{IPA link|e}} | |{{IPA link|o}} |- ![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]] |{{IPA link|ɛ}} | |{{IPA link|ɔ}} |- ![[Open vowel|Open]] | |{{IPA link|a}} | |}
* Sounds /i, a, u/ can be heard as [ɪ, ə, ʊ] in lax position.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Linton |first=Pauline |title=L’Orthographe du Latege |year=2016}}</ref>
== Alphabet == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ North Teke alphabet{{sfn|Linton|2013}} |--- ! Uppercase | A || B || D || DZ || E | F || G || I || K || L | M || N || NY || Ŋ || O | P || PF || R || S || T | TS || U || V || W || Y |--- ! Lowercase | a || b || d || dz || e | f || g || i || k || l | m || n || ny || ŋ || o | p || pf || r || s || t | ts || u || v || w || y |} ==References== {{Reflist}}
===Works cited=== * {{cite web |first=Pauline |last=Linton |title=L’alphabet latege |website=Dictionnaire latege |date=2013 |url=http://latege.webonary.org/overview/alphabet/ |access-date=2023-05-18 |archive-date=2017-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025035946/http://latege.webonary.org/overview/alphabet/ |url-status=dead }}
{{Languages of Gabon}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones A–B)}}
[[Category:Teke languages]]