Maba (Maban, Mabang) is a Maban language spoken in

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and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. It is divided into several dialects, and serves as a local

trade language A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

. Maba is closely related to the Masalit language.

Phonology

Vowels

* /ɛ, ɛː/ and /ɔ, ɔː/ may be realized as more close , eːand , oː when found in open syllable positions. * Vowels may also be marginally realized as nasal when in nasal environments. *

Consonants

* Stop sounds /b, t, k/ are heard as unreleased ̚, t̚, k̚when in word-final position. * Sounds

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are heard mostly as a result of loanwords. is also mostly from Arabic loanwords, but also may occur in some native words as well. * /t, d, ⁿd/ when preceding a tap /ɾ/, are then heard as retroflex �, ɖ, ᶯɖ * /ɾ/ may also be heard as a trill in free variation.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

References

Further reading