Aiki language

Aiki
Runga, Kibet
Native to	Chad, Central African Republic
Region	Salamat, Vakaga
Ethnicity	Runga people
Native speakers	(19,000 Kibet cited 1983) 43,000 Runga (1993–1996)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Maban Aiki
Dialects	Runga Kibet ? Dagal ? Muru
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: kie – Kibet rou – Runga
Glottolog	rung1257
Locations of Runga   and Kibet

Aiki is a Maban language of Chad. It consists of two dialects, Runga and Kibet, which are divergent enough to be considered separate languages. Kibet (Kibeit, Kibeet, Kabentang) is spoken in Chad, while Runga (Roungo) is split between Chad and the CAR. Ayki (Aykindang) is a name used in CAR.

Possible dialects of Kibet are Dagal (Dagel, Daggal) and Muru (Murru, Muro, Mourro); however, they are poorly known, and Blench (2012) lists them separately.

The Aiki area is flooded half the year.

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	p b	t d	c ɟ	k g
Implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Prenasalized	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮɟ	ᵑg
Fricative		s z	(ʃ)
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant	w	r, l	j

• /p/ can be realized as [f].
• /ʃ/ is only found in Arabic loanwords.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i i		u uː
Mid-high	e eː	(ə)	o oː
Mid-low	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Low		a aː

• [ə] only exists as an epenthetic vowel.

Additionally, the following diphthongs can be found: /ei/, /ɛi/, /ai/, /eu/, /əu/, /au/, /ou/.

There are two tones: high and low.