Nyamu language

Nyamu
Nyamu
Pronunciation	[ˈɲamu]
Native to	Khobeh
Ethnicity	Nyamu
Native speakers	xxx xxx
Language family	Juru Old Bosso Middle Bosso Nyamu
Writing system	xxx
Official status
Official language in	Khobeh

Nyamu (/ˈɲámú/) is a Juru language native to the Nyamu people of eastern Nkungu, and one of the official languages of Khobeh. While majority of Nyamu speakers are of Nyamu ethnicity, most populations of Hlong, Gara, and Nganka people, among others, also speak Nyamu as a second language. Out of the Juru languages, Nyamu is most closely related to the Hlong language spoken in northern Khobeh. Being the widest spoken Juru language, it is used as a lingua franca within the eastern Nkungu area.

Phonology

Nyamu consonants

			Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar
							plain	labial
Nasal			m	n
Plosive	normal	voiceless	p	t			k	k͡p
		aspirated	pʰ	tʰ			kʰ	k͡pʰ
		voiced	b	d			g	ɡ͡b
	prenasalized	voiceless	ᵐp	ⁿt			ᵑk
		voiced	ᵐb	ⁿd			ᵑg
Fricative	normal	voiceless	f	s	ɕ		x
		voiced	v	z	ʑ
	prenasalized	voiceless		ⁿs
		voiced		ⁿz
Affricate		voiceless		ts	t͡ɕ
		voiced		dz	d͡ʑ
Tap				ɾ
Approximant			w			j

• In certain dialects of Nyamu, tapped /ɾ/ is realized as an approximant [ɹ~l]

Nyamu vowels

	Front	Back
Closed	i	u
Closed-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open	a

Word-final vowels are deleted when followed by a vowel-initial word (e.g. dama ɔmɔ /ˈdám ɔ́mɔ́/), unless the word is a single-syllable word (e.g. ña ɔmɔ /ˈɲá ɔ́mɔ́/). Prepositions and conjunctions are exempt from this.

In urban Kafue Nyamu, word-final vowels become weakened when following sonorant consonants.

Tones

Nyamu has two tones; high and low. In romanization, high tone is left unmarked while low tone is marked with a grave accent ⟨à⟩