# Gungu language

Gungu is a Bantu language spoken by the Gungu (or Bagungu) people in western Uganda.

## Phonology
### Consonants

Casali and Diprose tentatively argue that the labialized (Cʷ) and palatalized (Cʲ) sequences may be sequences of CuV and CiV, respectively.
Gungu consonants :
| | | | Bilabial | Bilabial | Bilabial | Labio-dental | Alveolar | Alveolar | Alveolar | Palatal | Palatal | Palatal | Velar | Velar | Velar | Glottal | Glottal | Glottal |
| | | | plain | lab. | pal. | Labio-dental | plain | lab. | pal. | plain | lab. | pal. | plain | lab. | pal. | plain | lab. | pal. |
| Nasal | Nasal | -nas | m ⟨m⟩ | mʷ ⟨mw⟩ | mʲ ⟨my⟩ | | n ⟨n⟩ | nʷ ⟨nw⟩ | nʲ ⟨ni̱⟩ | ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | | ɲʲ ⟨nyi̱⟩ | ŋ ⟨ngh⟩ | | ŋʲ ⟨nghy⟩ | | | |
| Nasal | Nasal | +nas | m̩m ⟨mm⟩ | m̩mʷ ⟨mmw⟩ | m̩mʲ ⟨mmy⟩ | | n̩n ⟨nn⟩ | n̩nʷ ⟨nnw⟩ | n̩nʲ ⟨nni⟩ | ɲ̩ɲ ⟨nny⟩ | ɲ̩ɲʷ ⟨nnyw⟩ | | | | | | | |
| Stop/ Affricate | -voice | -nas | p ⟨p⟩ | pʷ ⟨pw⟩ | pʲ ⟨py⟩ | f ⟨f⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | tʷ ⟨tw⟩ | tʲ ⟨ty⟩ | c ⟨t͡ʃ⟩ | t͡ʃʷ ⟨cw⟩ | t͡ʃʲ ⟨cy⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | kʷ ⟨kw⟩ | kʲ ⟨ky⟩ | | | |
| Stop/ Affricate | -voice | +nas | mp ⟨mp⟩ | m̩pʷ ⟨mpw⟩ | m̩pʲ ⟨mpy⟩ | n̩f ⟨nf⟩ | n̩t ⟨nt⟩ | ⁿtʷ ⟨ntw⟩ | ⁿtʲ ⟨nty⟩ | ⁿt͡ʃ ⟨nc⟩ | n̩t͡ʃʷ ⟨ncw⟩ | | ŋk ⟨nk⟩ | ŋkʷ ⟨nkw⟩ | ŋkʲ ⟨nky⟩ | | | |
| Stop/ Affricate | +voice | -nas | b ⟨bb⟩ | bʷ ⟨bbw⟩ | bʲ ⟨bby⟩ | v ⟨v⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | dʷ ⟨dw⟩ | dʲ ⟨dy⟩ | d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩ | d͡ʒʷ ⟨jw⟩ | d͡ʒʲ ⟨jy⟩ | g ⟨g⟩ | gʷ ⟨gw⟩ | gʲ ⟨gy⟩ | | | |
| Stop/ Affricate | +voice | +nas | mb ⟨mb⟩ | m̩bʷ ⟨mbw⟩ | m̩bʲ ⟨mby⟩ | ⁿv ⟨nv⟩ | n̩d ⟨nd⟩ | ⁿdʷ ⟨ndw⟩ | ⁿdʲ ⟨ndy⟩ | ⁿd͡ʒ ⟨nj⟩ | n̩d͡ʒʷ ⟨njw⟩ | | ŋg ⟨ng⟩ | ŋ̩gʷ ⟨ngw⟩ | ŋ̩gʲ ⟨ngy⟩ | | | |
| Fricative | -voice | -nas | | | | | s ⟨s⟩ | sʷ ⟨sw⟩ | sʲ ⟨sy⟩ | | | | | | | h ⟨h⟩ | hʷ ⟨hw⟩ | hʲ ⟨hy⟩ |
| Fricative | -voice | +nas | | | | | ⁿs ⟨ns⟩ | n̩sʷ ⟨nsw⟩ | n̩sʲ ⟨nsy⟩ | | | | | | | | | |
| Fricative | +voice | -nas | β ⟨b⟩ | | βʲ ⟨by⟩ | | z ⟨z⟩ | zʷ ⟨zw⟩ | zʲ ⟨zy⟩ | | | | | | | | | |
| Fricative | +voice | +nas | | | | | n̩z ⟨nz⟩ | ⁿzʷ ⟨nzw⟩ | ⁿzʲ ⟨nzy⟩ | | | | | | | | | |
| Tap | Tap | Tap | | | | | ɾ ⟨r⟩ | ɾʷ ⟨rw⟩ | ɾʲ ⟨ry⟩ | | | | | | | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | Approximant | ʋ ⟨b̯⟩ | ʋʷ ⟨b̯w⟩ | | | l ⟨l⟩ | lʷ ⟨lw⟩ | lʲ ⟨ly⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | jʷ ⟨yw⟩ | | | w ⟨w⟩ | | | | |

### Vowels

Gungu has 14 vowel phonemes. The mid vowels are variants of the open-mid vowels. Vowels before prenasalized consonants and after labialized and palatalized consonants are always long but are written short. The close and mid vowels are considered "hard", and the others are considered "soft." Gungu has a form of vowel harmony, in which the mid vowels generally only appear in words with the "hard" close vowels.

#### Monophthongs

Gungu vowels :
| | Front | Front | Central | Central | Back | Back |
| | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long |
| Close | i ⟨i̱⟩ | iː ⟨i̱i̱⟩ | | | u ⟨u̱⟩ | uː ⟨u̱u̱⟩ |
| Near-close | ɪ ⟨i⟩ | ɪː ⟨ii⟩ | | | ʊ ⟨u⟩ | ʊː ⟨u⟩ |
| Mid | (e ⟨e⟩) | (eː ⟨ee⟩) | | | (o ⟨o⟩) | (oː ⟨oo⟩) |
| Open-mid | ɛ ⟨e⟩ | ɛː ⟨ee⟩ | | | ɔ ⟨o⟩ | ɔː ⟨oo⟩ |
| Open | | | ä ⟨a⟩ | äː ⟨aa⟩ | | |

#### Diphthongs

Gungu has eight diphthongs.
Gungu diphthongs :
| | Front Hard | Front Soft | Back Hard | Back Soft |
| Mid | ei̯ ⟨ei̱⟩ | ɛɪ̯ ⟨ei⟩ | oi̯ ⟨oi̱⟩ | ɔɪ̯ ⟨oi⟩ |
| Open | äi̯ ⟨ai̱⟩ | äɪ̯ ⟨ai⟩ | äu̯ ⟨au̱⟩ | äʊ̯ ⟨au⟩ |

### Tone

Tone is only marked on Gungu verbs indicating the recent past. This tense is marked with a plus symbol (+).

## Orthography

Gungu alphabet :
| Capital | Lowercase | IPA |
| A | a | /ä/ |
| Aa | aa | /äː/ |
| B | b | /β/ |
| B̯ | b̯ | /ʋ/ |
| Bb | bb | /b/ |
| C | c | /t͡ʃ/ |
| D | d | /d/ |
| E | e | /e/, /ɛ/ |
| Ee | ee | /eː/, /ɛː/ |
| F | f | /f/ |
| G | g | /g/ |
| H | h | /h/ |
| I | i | /ɪ/ |
| II | ii | /ɪː/ |
| I̱ | i̱ | /i/ |
| I̱I̱ | i̱i̱ | /iː/ |
| J | j | /d͡ʒ/ |
| K | k | /k/ |
| L | l | /l/ |
| M | m | /m/ |
| N | n | /n/ |
| Ngh | ngh | /ŋ/ |
| Ny | ny | /ɲ/ |
| O | o | /o/, /ɔ/ |
| Oo | oo | /oː/, /ɔː/ |
| P | p | /p/ |
| R | r | /ɾ/ |
| S | s | /s/ |
| T | t | /t/ |
| U | u | /ʊ/ |
| Uu | uu | /ʊ/ |
| U̱ | u̱ | /u/ |
| U̱U̱ | u̱u̱ | /uː/ |
| V | v | /v/ |
| W | w | /w/ |
| Y | y | /j/ |
| Z | z | /z/ |