In Lingala, sometimes you hear "
nsoso" and sometimes you hear "
soso". You might get the impression that
it would be free to choose wether to use the first letter
m or
n when the word starts with two consonants,
but in reality there is a precise rule for it :
In lingala, the first letter m or n may be ommitted for words that start with mp, nt, ns or nk.
(The voiced consonants - FR: Les consonnes sonores)
| NK |
| nkama / kama | cent |
| nkingo / kingo | cou |
| nkisi / kisi | médicament |
| nkulutu / kulutu | aîné |
| nkoba / koba | tortue |
| MP |
| mpinzoli / pinzoli | larme |
| mpo / po | pour |
| mpamba / pamba | nul |
| mpuku / puku | souris |
| mpongi / pongi | sommeil |
| NS |
| nse / se | dessous |
| nsoso / soso | poulet |
| nsambo / sambo | sept |
| nsango / sango | information |
| nsinga / singa | fil |
| NT |
| ntina / tina | importance |
| ntolo / tolo | torse |
| ntalo / talo | valeur |
| ntango / tango | temps |
| ntaba / taba | chèvre |
In all other cases, the first letter is mandatory.
(The unvoiced consonants - FR: Les consonnes sourdes)
| NG |
| nguya | pouvoir |
| ngai | moi |
| nganda | bar |
| nguba | arachide |
| ngulu | cochon |
| MB |
| mboka | village |
| mbeli | couteau |
| mbetu | lit |
| mbila | palmier |
| mbisi | poisson |
| ND |
| ndako | maison |
| ndeko | cousin |
| ndakisa | exemple |
| ndumba | prostituée |
| ndunda | légume |
| NZ |
| nzoto | corps |
| nzete | arbre, baton |
| nzela | chemin |
| nzungu | marmite |
| nzala | faim |
| NY |
| nyei | excrément |
| nyoso | rien |
| nyoka | serpent |
| nyama | animal |
| nyongo | dette |
Article : Counting and numbers