Budza language

Budza
Budza
Buja
Native to	DR Congo
Native speakers	(230,000 cited 1985 census)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu (Zone C.40) Buja–Ngombe Budza; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Budza; Tembo; Kunda; Gbuta; Babale;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; bja – Budza; tmv – Tembo
Glottolog	budj1234 Bujaic; temb1272 Motembo-Kunda
Guthrie code	C.37

Budza or Buja (Embudja, Limbudza) is a Bantu language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There are several neighbouring minor languages which Maho (2009) lists as closely related: C371 Tembo (Litembo or Motembo – distinguish Chitembo/Kitembo), C372 Kunda (Likunda – distinguish Chikunda), C373 Gbuta (Egbuta) and C374 Babale. Only Tembo, with 5,000 speakers, has been assigned a separate ISO code; Glottolog concludes that it and Kunda are a single language, distinct from Budza, Gbuta and Bango.

Phonology

Consonants³
	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labiovelar	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d	tʃ dʒ	k g	kp gb
Prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ⁿdʒ	ᵑg	ᵑgb
Fricative		s				h
Nasal	m	n
Approximant	w	l	j

Vowels³
	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid-high	e		o
Mid-low	ɛ		ɔ
Low		a

Budza distinguishes between high tone and low tone.³

References

Budza at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Tembo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
Mangulu, Motingea (2003). "La Parler Bujá des Yambuli (Bantou C.37)". Annales Æquatoria (in French). 24: 205–261.

[e18-1] Budza at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Tembo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Guthrie-2] Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online

[:0-3] Mangulu, Motingea (2003). "La Parler Bujá des Yambuli (Bantou C.37)". Annales Æquatoria (in French). 24: 205–261.

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