The Lendu, or Balendru, are an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, in particular the Ituri

Ituri

Ituri may refer to:* Ituri Interim Administration, an interim administration in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo* Ituri Province, a proposed province in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo* Ituri Rainforest* Ituri River...

 region of Orientale province. Their language is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages

Central Sudanic languages

Starostin notes that the poorly attested language Mimi of Decorse is suggestive of Central Sudanic, though he provisionally treats it as an isolate.-References:...

. There are three-quarters of a million Lendu speakers in the DRC, and 10,000 more in Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

. A conflict between the Lendu and Hema people

Hema people

The Hema, or Hima, are an ethnic group with about 160,000 members located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular the Ituri region and Orientale province, as well as parts of Uganda and Rwanda...

 was the basis of the Ituri conflict

Ituri Conflict

The Ituri conflict is a conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo . While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level...

.

Ethnologue gives Badha as an alternative name of Lendu, but Blench (2000) lists it as a distinct language.

Besides the Balendru themselves, Lendu is spoken as a native language by a portion of the Hema, Alur

Alur people

Alur are an ethnic group who live mainly in the Nebbi, Zombo, and Arua districts in northwestern Uganda, but also in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north of Lake Albert. They are part of the larger Luo group, and their language is closely related to Acholi...

, and Okebu.

Phonology

Demolin (1995) posits that Lendu has voiceless implosives, /ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ɠ̊/ (/ƥ ƭ ƙ/). However, Goyvaerts (1988) had described these as creaky-voiced

Creaky voice

In linguistics, creaky voice , is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact...

 implosives /ɓ̰ ɗ̰ ɠ̰/, as in Hausa

Hausa language

Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...

, contrasting with a series of modally voiced implosives /ɓ ɗ ɠ/ as in Kalabari

Kalabari language

Kalabari is an Ijaw language of Nigeria. Its three dialects are mutually intelligible. The Kalabari dialect is one of the best-documented varieties of Ijaw, and as such is frequently used as the prime example of Ijaw in linguistic literature....

, and Lagefoged judges that this seems to be a more accurate description.