Kimbundu


Kimbundu, a Bantu language which has sometimes been called Mbundu
or 'North Mbundu' , is the second-most widely spoken Bantu language in Angola.
Its speakers are concentrated in the north-west of the country, notably in the Luanda, Bengo, Malanje and the Cuanza Norte provinces. It is spoken by the Ambundu.

Phonology

Consonants

Allophones:
and are allophones of /p/ and /b/, respectively, before /a/ and /u/. The phoneme /l/ is phonetically a flap , the plosive or its palatalized version before the front high vowel /i/. In the same way, the alveolars /s/, /z/ and /n/ are palatalized to , and , respectively, before . There may be an epenthesis of after /ŋ/ in word medial positions, thus creating a phonetic cluster in a process of fortition.
There is long distance nasal harmony, in which /l/ is realized as if the previous morphemes contain /m/ or /n/, but not prenasalized stops.

Vowels

There are two contrasting tones: a high and a low tone. There is also a downstep in cases of tonal sandhi.

Vowel Harmony

There is vowel harmony in two groups that applies only for verbal morphology. In some morphemes, vowels may be consistently deleted to avoid a hiatus.