Nyamu language
Nyamu | |
---|---|
Nyamu | |
Pronunciation | [ˈɲamu] |
Native to | Khobeh |
Ethnicity | Nyamu |
Native speakers | xxx xxx |
Juru
| |
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.
History
Varieties
Current status and importance
Phonology
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]
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⟩