A Phonemic Analysis of Bemba; A Presentation of Bemba Syllable Structure, Phonemic Contrasts and Their Distribution. Zambian Papers No. 3.

The present study is a pilot phonemic analysis which attempts primarily to establish an inventory of phonemic contrasts in Bemba. Also referred to as Chibemba, the term Bemba is used to cover several regional variants of the language. (The variant examined in this study is known as "Central Bemba," spoken in the Kasama District and contiguous areas of the Northern Province of Zambia.) The main content of this work, which "does not purport to be either definitive or exhaustive but rather tentative and suggestive" since it is based on a limited corpus, is concerned with the setting up of segmental and suprasegmental phonemes. Also treated are phonemic distribution and syllable structure. Wherever considered relevant, morphological and syntactical levels have been taken into account. (AMM)