Kaba language

Bongo–Bagirmi language of Chad and the CAR

Kaba
Sara Kaba
Native to	Central African Republic, Chad
Native speakers	(53,000 cited 1993–1996)^[1]
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Central Sudanic Bongo–Bagirmi Kaba Kaba
Dialects	Dunje (Dendje), Mbanga (Banga), Na (Náà), Tie (Tiye)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: `kwv` – Kaba Náà `sbz` – Sara Kaba (Ta Sara) `ksp` – Kaba
Glottolog	`sara1348` adds Deme

Kaba proper is a Bongo–Bagirmi language of Chad and the Central African Republic. It is one of several local languages that go by the names Kaba and Sara. There are three ISO codes, which Ethnologue acknowledges may be the same thing.

Phonology

Consonants^[2]
	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d	(tʃ) dʒ	k g
Implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ⁿdʒ	ᵑg
Fricative		s			h
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant	w	l	j

/k/ can often be heard as a uvular plosive [q].
/k/ can also often be pronounced as a fricative /x/ by some speakers.
/ɗ/ is often interchangeable with [r], but is pronounced [ɗ] in careful speech, except word-finally, where it is pronounced [r].
/tʃ/ is only found in one word.

Vowels^[2]
	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid-high	e eː		o oː
Mid-low	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Low		a aː

Vowel length is often not regarded to be phonemic, but it is a contrastive feature in the verbal morphology.

Kaba has three tones: high, low, and mid.^[2]

References

^ Kaba Náà at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Sara Kaba (Ta Sara) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kaba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b ^c Keegan, John M.; Koutou, Kodé (2015). Dictionary of Na: Na-French / French Na, with Introduction in English. Cuenca: Morkeg Books. pp. ii–x.