Dzuma language

Dzuma
Dzùmáá
Pronunciation	[ˈd͡zùmáː]
Native to	Bomakwodor Afa
Ethnicity	Dzuma
Native speakers	xxx xxx
Language family	language isolate
Dialects	Akpaleh Gaanin Afa-Gaanin
Writing system	xxx
Official status
Official language in	Bomakwodor

Dzuma (Dzùmáá [ˈd͡zùmáː]) is a language isolate native to the Dzuma people of southern Nkungu, and the official language of Bomakwodor. The language is also spoken by Dzuma minorities in southern Afa.

Varieties

Dzuma has a number of local dialects spoken in certain areas of Bomakwodor or exclusive to certain Dzuma tribes:

• Akpaleh - Primarily spoken by the Akpaleh tribe of northern Bomakwodor, but also by neighboring tribes in the area as a local dialect
• Gaanin - Local dialect of western Bomakwodor, also has a Nyamu-influenced subdialect spoken in Afa known as Afa-Gaanin
• Bandapor - also known as Ekwa, is a dialect exclusive to the Bandapor tribe of eastern Bomakwodor

Phonology

Dzuma consonants

			Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
						plain	labial
Nasal			m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	normal	voiceless	p	t	c	k	k͡p
		voiced	b	d	ɟ	g	ɡ͡b
	prenasalized	voiceless	ᵐp	ⁿt	ᶮc	ᵑk	ᵑk͡p
		voiced	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮɟ	ᵑg	ᵑɡ͡b
Fricative	normal	voiceless	f	s	ç	x
		voiced	β	z		ɣ
	prenasalized	voiceless	ᶬf	ⁿs	ᶮç	ᵑx
		voiced	ᶬv	ⁿz
Affricate	normal	voiceless		t͡s	ᶮcç
		voiced		d͡z	ᶮɟʝ
	prenasalized	voiceless		ⁿt͡s
		voiced		ⁿd͡z
Approximant			w	l	j
Lateral fricative		voiceless		ɬ
		voiced		ɮ
Tap				ɾ

Dzuma vowels

	Front		Back
	normal	nasalized	normal	nasalized
Close	i	ĩ	u	ũ
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɛ̃	ɔ	õ
Open	a	ã

Tones

Dzuma has five tones: low <à>, middle <a>, high <á>, rising <àá>, and falling <áà>.