Berta language
Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Berta in Sudan and Ethiopia
title: "Berta language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["berta-languages", "languages-of-sudan", "languages-of-ethiopia", "subject–verb–object-languages"] description: "Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Berta in Sudan and Ethiopia" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berta_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Berta in Sudan and Ethiopia ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Berta |
| nativename | Gebeto |
| states | Sudan and Ethiopia |
| region | Benishangul-Gumuz |
| ethnicity | Berta people, Wetawit |
| speakers | all Berta languages |
| date | 2006–2007 |
| ref | e25 |
| dia1 | Shuru |
| dia2 | Bake |
| dia3 | Undu |
| dia4 | Mayu |
| dia5 | Fadashi |
| dia6 | Dabuso |
| dia7 | Beleje Gonfoye |
| script | Latin alphabet |
| speakers2 | monolinguals in Ethiopia |
| familycolor | Nilo-Saharan |
| fam2 | Berta languages |
| iso3 | wti |
| iso3comment | (all Berta languages) |
| glotto | bert1248 |
| glottorefname | Berta |
| :: |
|name=Berta |nativename=Gebeto |states=Sudan and Ethiopia |region=Benishangul-Gumuz |ethnicity=Berta people, Wetawit |speakers= all Berta languages |date=2006–2007 |ref=e25 |dia1=Shuru |dia2=Bake |dia3=Undu |dia4=Mayu |dia5=Fadashi |dia6=Dabuso |dia7=Beleje Gonfoye |script=Latin alphabet |speakers2= monolinguals in Ethiopia |familycolor=Nilo-Saharan |fam2=Berta languages |iso3=wti |iso3comment=(all Berta languages) |glotto=bert1248 |glottorefname=Berta
Berta proper, a.k.a. Gebeto, is spoken by the Berta (also Bertha, Barta, Burta) in Sudan and Ethiopia. As of 2006 Berta had approximately 180,000 speakers in Sudan.
The three Berta languages, Gebeto, Fadashi and Undu, are often considered dialects of a single language. Berta proper includes the dialects Bake, Dabuso, Gebeto, Mayu, and Shuru; the dialect name Gebeto may be extended to all of Berta proper.
Phonology
Consonants
::data[format=table]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Stop | voiced | ejective | implosive | Fricative | voiceless | ejective | Nasal | Rhotic | Lateral | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | d | ɟ | g | |||||||||||||
| pʼ | tʼ | (cʼ) | kʼ | (ʔ) | ||||||||||||
| ɗ | ||||||||||||||||
| f | θ | s | ʃ | h | ||||||||||||
| sʼ | ||||||||||||||||
| m | n | (ɲ) | ŋ | |||||||||||||
| r | ||||||||||||||||
| l | ||||||||||||||||
| j | w | |||||||||||||||
| :: |
- Voiced plosives /b, d, ɡ/ may be heard as voiceless [p, t, k] in free variation, word-initially or word-finally.
- A glottal stop [ʔ] mainly occurs between vowels, and may also be heard before word-initial vowel sounds.
- Nasal-stop sequences may occur morpheme-initially as [mb, nd, ŋɡ, ŋkʼ].
- /ŋ/ is heard as [ɲ] when preceding a front vowel /i/ or /e/.
- /kʼ/ is heard as a palatal [cʼ] when before front vowels.
- /ɡ/ can be heard as voiced palatal [ɟ] or as a voiceless palatal [c] when before front vowels.
- /h/ in word-final position can be heard as a fricative [x].
- /s, θ/ may sometimes occur as slightly voiced [z, ð] in vocalic or nasal environments.
Vowels
::data[format=table]
| Front | Central | Back | Close | Mid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i iː | u uː | ||||
| ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | ||||
| a aː | |||||
| :: |
- If a non-closed vowel sound, /ɛ/ or /ɔ/, are adjacent to a closed vowel sound like /i/ or /u/ within vowel harmony, they are then heard as more closed [e, o].
::data[format=table]
| Phoneme | Allophone |
|---|---|
| /i/ | [i], [ɨ~ɘ], [ɨ], [ɪ] |
| /a/ | [a], [ə], [æ], [ɜ], [ɐ] |
| /u/ | [u], [ʉ], [ʊ] |
| :: |
Pronouns
The pronouns of Berta are as follows: ::data[format=table]
| Topic | Postverbal subject | Postverbal object | I | you (sg.) | he, she, it | we | you (pl.) | they |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
References
Bibliography
- Torben Andersen. "Aspects of Berta phonology". Afrika und Übersee 76: pp. 41–80.
- Torben Andersen. "Absolutive and Nominative in Berta". ed. Nicolai & Rottland, Fifth Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium. Nice, 24–29 August 1992. Proceedings. (Nilo-Saharan 10). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. 1995. pp. 36–49.
- M. Lionel Bender. "Berta Lexicon". In Bender (ed.), Topics in Nilo-Saharan Linguistics (Nilo-Saharan 3), pp. 271–304. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag 1989.
- E. Cerulli. "Three Berta dialects in western Ethiopia", Africa, 1947.
- Susanne Neudorf & Andreas Neudorf: Bertha - English - Amharic Dictionary. Addis Ababa: Benishangul-Gumuz Language Development Project 2007.
- A. N. Tucker & M. A. Bryan. Linguistic Analyses: The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. London: Oxford University Press 1966.
- A. Triulzi, A. A. Dafallah, and M. L. Bender. "Berta". In Bender (ed.), The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. East Lansing, Michigan: African Studies Center, Michigan State University 1976, pp. 513–532.
References
- "Berta". Ethnologue.
- Bremer, Nate D. 2016. ''[https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/69953 A Sociolinguistic Survey of Six Berta Speech Varieties in Ethiopia]''. SIL Electronic Survey Report 2016-007. Addis Ababa: SIL International.
- Neudorf, Susanne. (2016). "Phonology of Berta". Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
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