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