Yaka language (Congo–Angola)

For other languages with the name spoken in Congo, see Yaka language (disambiguation).

Yaka, also spelled Iaca and Iyaka, is a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. There are two dialects, Yaka proper, which comprises 99% of speakers, and Ngoongo (distinguish West Ngongo language).^[2] The alleged varieties Pelende and Lonzo are political rather than ethnolinguistic entities.^[3]

Yaka
Iyaka
Kiyaka
Native to	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola
Ethnicity	Yaka
Native speakers	(900,000 cited 2000)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone H) Kongo-Yaka Yaka languages Yaka
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: yaf – Kiyaka noq – Ngoongo ppp – Pelende (duplicate code) lnz – Lonzo (duplicate code)
Glottolog	yaka1269
Guthrie code	H.31[2]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ
	prenasal	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᵑɡ
	voiced	b
Affricate	voiceless	p͡f	t͡s
	prenasal	ᶬb͡v	ⁿd͡z
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			h
	voiced	v	z
Approximant		w	l	j

• The following consonants when preceding /w/ may also be labialized; /tʷ, kʷ, bʷ, ᵐbʷ, ⁿd͡zʷ, ᵑɡʷ, fʷ, sʷ, hʷ, vʷ, mʷ, nʷ, lʷ/.
• The following consonants when preceding /j/ may also be palatalized; /tʲ, kʲ, bʲ, dʲ, t͡sʲ, sʲ, hʲ, zʲ, mʲ, nʲ/.^[4]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

References

1. Kiyaka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Ngoongo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Pelende (duplicate code) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Lonzo (duplicate code) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
3. Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
4. Kidima, Lukowa (1991). Tone and accent in KiYaka. Ann Arbor: University of California at Los Angeles.