Bila language

Not to be confused with Bira language, Bali language (DRC), Sua language, Kango language (Bas-Uélé District), or Bila' language.

Bila, or Forest Bira, is a Bantu language spoken in the Mambasa Territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is also spoken by the Mbuti Pygmies who live in that area. Pygmy groups to the west include the Kango and Sua (Batchua).^[3] Other Mbuti speak Central Sudanic languages. The Kango and Sua speak distinct dialects (southern and northern), but not enough to impair mutual intelligibility with their farming Bila patrons.

Bila
Forest Bira
Kango, Sua
Native to	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Region	Ituri forest
Ethnicity	Kango (Wochua?)
Native speakers	(40,000 cited 1993–1998)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone D.20–30) Boan Bomokandian Biran Bila
Dialects	Kango (1,000) Sua (1,000) Bombi-Ngbanja Nyaku Ibutu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: bip – Bila kzy – Kango–Sua
Glottolog	bila1255  Bila kang1285  Kango belu1239  Belueli
Guthrie code	D.211,311,313[2]

Maho (2009) lists Ibutu (Mbuttu, D.313) as a distinct language.

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labio- velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	p	t	t͡ʃ	k	k͡p
	prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮd͡ʒ	ᵑɡ	ᵑᵐɡ͡b
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Fricative		ɸ	s				h
Lateral			l
Semivowel				j		w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Near-close	ɪ		ʊ
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a