Lama language

Not to be confused with Lamba language (Bantu) or Lama Bai language.
Lama
Lamba
RegionTogo, Benin
EthnicityLamba
Native speakers
260,000 (2006–2012)[1]
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3las
Glottologlama1275

Lama is a Gur language spoken by the Lamba people in Togo, Benin, and by a few in Ghana.

Phonology[2]

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Labial-velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop p t ɖ tʃ k k͡p
Fricative ɸ s h
Approximant l j w

Vowels

Front Central Back
short long nasal short long nasal short long nasal
Close i iː ĩ ɨ ɨː ɨ̃ u uː ũ
Near-close ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ʊ ʊː ʊ̃
Close-mid e eː ẽ ə əː ə̃ o oː õ
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɔ ɔː ɔ̃
Open a aː ã

Tones

Toneme
Falling ˦˨
Level ˨
Rising ˨˦

Alphabet

Lama alphabet[3]
Uppercase A C D Ɖ E Ǝ Ɛ F H I Ɨ Ɩ K KP L
Lowercase a c d ɖ e ǝ ɛ f h i ɨ ɩ k kp l
Uppercase M N Ŋ Ñ O Ɔ P R S T U Ʋ W Y
Lowercase m n ŋ ñ o ɔ p r s t u ʋ w y


References

  1. ^ Lama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  3. ^ alphabet, SIL 2014.


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