Gbeya language

Not to be confused with Suma-Jumano language.

Gbeya
Native to	Central African Republic
Native speakers	(ca. 250,000 cited 1996–2005)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Savannas Gbaya Western Bokoto–Bozom Gbeya
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: gbp – Gbaya-Bossangoa sqm – Suma
Glottolog	gbey1244 dekk1240

Gbeya (Gbɛ́yá, Gbaya-Bossangoa) is a Gbaya language of the Central African Republic. Ethnologue reports it may be mutually intelligible with Bozom.[2]

Suma (Súmā) is a language variety closely related to Gbeya.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labialvelar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	k͡p	ʔ
	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡ͡b
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑɡ	ᵑᵐɡ͡b
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Nasal	preglottal	ˀm	ˀn
	plain	m	n		ŋ	ŋ͡m
Fricative	voiceless	f	s				h
	voiced	v	z
Lateral			l
Tap/Flap		ⱱ	ɾ
Approximant				j		w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

[4]

References

1. Gbaya-Bossangoa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
   Suma at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Samarin, William J. (1966). The Gbeya language: Grammar, texts, and vocabularies (PDF). ASIN B000S2UYWE. hdl:1807/67174. OCLC 897343. Book reviewed in both Courtenay, Karen (1 January 1968). "Review of The Gbeya Language: Grammar, Texts, and Vocabularies". Language. 44 (2): 420–423. doi:10.2307/411642. hdl:1807/67174. JSTOR 411642, and Crabb, David W. (1969). "The Gbeya Language: Grammar, Texts, and Vocabularies . William J. Samarin". American Anthropologist. 71 (2): 365–366. doi:10.1525/aa.1969.71.2.02a00600.
3. Suma materials from Raymond Boyd
4. Samarin, William J. (1966). The Gbeya Language Grammar, Texts, and Vocabularies (PDF). University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles.

External links

• Suma materials from Raymond Boyd