Bena language

Bena is a Bantu language spoken by the Bena people of the Iringa region of Tanzania.

Voiceless sounds almost always occur as aspirated stops; [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ].

• /v/ can be realized as [ʋ] intervocalically.
• [ɖ] can occur as an allophone of /d/ before long non high vowels.
• [x] can occur as an allophone of /k/, /h/ in the Maswamu dialect.
• [cç, tʃ] can occur as allophones of /ts/, in the Twangabita dialect.
• [ⁿz] can occur as an allophone of /ⁿs/.
• [ɟ] can occur as an allophone of /j/ in the Maswamu dialect.
• [β, ʋ] can occur as allophones of /w/ among some speakers.
• Prenasalised stops may be devoiced when occurring word-finally (ex. /ᵐb/ ~ [ᵐb̥]).

• /i, u/ before non-rounded vowels are recognized as glides [j, w].^[3]

• Morrison, Michelle Elizabeth (2011). A Reference Grammar of Bena (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/70359.

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