Tetela language

Tetela (Otetela, Kitetela, Kikitatela), also Sungu, is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is spoken by the Tetela people.

Consonants

 * [ɡ] is heard as an allophone of /k/ in intervocalic positions.

Noun classes
Like other Bantu languages, Tetela grammar arranges nouns into a number of classes. The ancestral system had 22 classes (counting singular and plural as distinct according to the Meinhof system), with most Bantu languages sharing at least ten of them.


 * {| class=wikitable

!class!!semantics!!prefix!!singular!!translation!!plural!!translation !1, 2 !3, 4 !5, 6 !7, 8 ! 9, 10 ! 11, 10 ! 12, 13 ! 19, 13
 * persons
 * o-/ɔ-/w-, a- || omfúnjí || scribe, secretary || amfúnjí || scribes, secretaries
 * trees, etc
 * o-/ɔ-/w-, e-/ɛ- || ojja || place || ejja || places; region
 * various
 * di-/dy-, a- || dihamvú || fruit of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum || ahamvú || fruits of Chrysophyllum lacourtianum
 * various
 * ke-/e-, di-/dy- || kesashi || chief || disashi || chiefs
 * animals, etc
 * Ø-/N-, Ø-/N- || mbódí || goat || mbódí || goats
 * abstract concepts, etc
 * lo-, N- || lolémí || language || némí || languages
 * various
 * ka-/k-, to-/t- || kashikɛ || helmet (from French casque) || toshikɛ || helmets
 * various
 * °i- (complex morphology), to-/t- || jɔ́ndɔ́ || ??? || tɔlɔ́ndɔ́ || ???
 * }

Relevant literature

 * Elysee Meta Okubo. 2016. A COLLECTION OF 100 TETELA PROVERBS. Proverb website
 * Mukanga, Ndjeka Elizabeth, Empenge Albert Shefu, Ambaye Albertine Tshefu. 2020. Great Collection of Tetela Proverbs on the African Wisdom. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishers. [283 proverbs, 107 pages]