Mono language (Congo)

For other uses, see Mono language.
Mono
Native toDemocratic Republic of the Congo
RegionNorthwestern corner of Congo (DRC)
Native speakers
(65,000 cited 1984 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mnh
Glottologmono1270
ELPMono (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
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Mono is a language spoken by about 65,000 people[2] in the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of the Banda languages, a subbranch of the Ubangian branch of the Niger–Congo languages. It has five dialects: Bili, Bubanda, Mpaka, Galaba, and Kaga.

Mono has 33 consonant phonemes, including three labial-velar stops (/k͡p/, /ɡ͡b/, and prenasalized /ᵑ͡ᵐɡ͡b/), an asymmetrical eight-vowel system, and a labiodental flap /ⱱ/ (allophonically a bilabial flap [ⱳ]) that contrasts with both /v/ and /w/. It is a tonal language.

  1. ^ Mono at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Ethnologue report for Mono