ABSTRACT
An outstanding characteristic of the BONGO-BAGIRMI languages is that the final vowel of certain words is semi-mute, i.e. pronounced so softly as to be hardly audible, and readily elided before sounds. Consonants are less clearly articulated than in MORU-MANGBETU, and free variants (Variphones) are common within certain languages. In the Eastern languages semi-mute vowels are rare and seem to be confined to BONGO and BAKA. The Adjective may also show Plurality in the Western languages, sometimes instead of, sometimes as well as, the Noun. The Prepositions are attached to Nouns and Pronouns in the same way as in the Intimate Genitive Construction (i.e. there is no Linking Particle); there is, however, a Locative Suffix in some Western languages, which comes at the end of the Noun Group. Grammatically these languages have much in common with SERE-MUNDU and BANDA-GBAYA-NGBANDI, but there is enough divergence to warrant separate treatment.
