Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 27, 2026

Lama language

Lama is a Gur language spoken by the Lamba people in Togo, Benin, and by a few in Ghana.

Last revised
Jul 27, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
214 w
Citations
3
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Lama
Lamba
RegionTogo, Benin
EthnicityLamba
Native speakers
260,000 (2006–2012)1
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3las
Glottologlama1275

Lama is a Gur language spoken by the Lamba people in Togo, Benin, and by a few in Ghana.

Phonology

Source:2

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Labial-velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop p t ɖ tʃ k k͡p
Fricative ɸ s h
Approximant l j w

Vowels

Front Central Back
short long nasal short long nasal short long nasal
Close i iː ĩ ɨ ɨː ɨ̃ u uː ũ
Near-close ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ʊ ʊː ʊ̃
Close-mid e eː ẽ ə əː ə̃ o oː õ
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɔ ɔː ɔ̃
Open a aː ã

Tones

Toneme
Falling ˦˨
Level ˨
Rising ˨˦

Alphabet

Lama alphabet3
Uppercase A C D Ɖ E Ǝ Ɛ F H I Ɨ Ɩ K KP L
Lowercase a c d ɖ e ǝ ɛ f h i ɨ ɩ k kp l
Uppercase M N Ŋ Ñ O Ɔ P R S T U Ʋ W Y
Lowercase m n ŋ ñ o ɔ p r s t u ʋ w y
References

References

  1. Lama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  3. alphabet, SIL 2014.