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Gwari is a Nupoid language spoken by the Gbagyi people, which make up over a million people in Nigeria. There are two principal varieties, Gbari (West Gwari) and Gbagyi (East Gwari), which have some difficulty in communication; sociolinguistically they are distinct languages.
| Gbari | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Abuja, Kaduna State, Niger State, and Nasarawa State |
| Ethnicity | Gbagyi people |
Native speakers | 1,290,000 Gbagyi (2020)[1] 550,000 Gbari (2020) |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:gbr – Gbagyigby – Gbari |
| Glottolog | gbag1256 |
Phonology
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i ĩ | u ũ | |
| Mid | e ẽ | o õ | |
| Open | a ã |
- /i, u, e, o/ can also have allophones [ɪ, ʊ, ɛ, ʌ].
- Nasal vowels /ĩ, ũ, ẽ, õ/ can also be heard as [ɪ̃, ʊ̃, ɛ̃, ʌ̃].
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ɲ) | (ŋ) | |||
| Stop/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | (t͡ʃ) | k | k͡p | |
| voiced | b | d | (d͡ʒ) | g | ɡ͡b | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (ʃ) | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | (ʒ) | ||||
| Approximant | central | (ɹ) | j | w | |||
| lateral | l | ||||||
- The following sounds may be labialized as /pʷ, bʷ, fʷ, vʷ, kʷ, ɡʷ, mʷ, k͡pʷ, ɡ͡bʷ, hʷ/ and palatalized as /pʲ, bʲ, fʲ, vʲ, kʲ, ɡʲ, mʲ, lʲ, wʲ/.
- Sounds /t, d, s, z, n/ when palatalized are always heard as [tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ, ɲ].
- Sounds /f, b/ can be heard as bilabial sounds [ɸ, β] in free variation.
- /n/ is heard as velar [ŋ] when preceding velar consonants.
- /n/ becomes a labialized-velar [ŋʷ] when preceding a /w/.
- Sounds /bʷ, ɡʷ, ɡʲ/ are softened to fricatives [βʷ, ɣʷ, ɣʲ] when preceding a glide, in medial-intervocalic position.
- /ɡ͡b/ is heard as an implosive [ɓ] in free variation.
- /h/ only has a limited occurrence, but it also may be allophonic with /f/ in Northern Gbagyi. In Southern Gbagyi, [h] is heard in free variation with /j/, when /j/ occurs before /i/ in syllable-final position.
- The palatalized /lʲ/ may also be heard as a central glide [ɹ].[2]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ɲ) | (ŋ) | |||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | k͡p | ||
| voiced | b | d | g | ɡ͡b | |||
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | |||||
| ejective | kʼ | ||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | (t͡ʃ) | ||||
| voiced | (d͡ʒ) | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (ʃ) | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | (ʒ) | ||||
| Approximant | central | (ɹ) | j | w | |||
| lateral | l | ||||||
- The following sounds may be labialized as /pʷ, bʷ, fʷ, vʷ, kʷ, ɡʷ, mʷ/ and palatalized as /pʲ, bʲ, fʲ, vʲ, tʲ, dʲ, kʲ, ɡʲ, mʲ, lʲ, wʲ/.
- Stops may also be heard as post-nasalized as [pᵐ, bᵐ, tⁿ, dⁿ, kᵑ, ɡᵑ, k͡pᵐ, ɡ͡bᵐ].
- Palatalized sounds /tʲ, dʲ/, typically occur as [tʃ, dʒ] or [tʲ, dʲ] in free variation, and as [tʃ, dʒ], they can be represented orthographically as <ch, j>. Sounds /s, z, n/ when palatalized are always heard as [ʃ, ʒ, ɲ], and can be represented orthographically as <sh, zh, ny>.
- Sounds /f, fʲ, b/ can be heard as bilabial sounds [ɸ, ɸʲ, β] in free variation.
- /d/ can also be heard as [ɾ].
- Sounds /b, ɡ/ and /bʷ, ɡʷ, ɡʲ/ are softened to fricatives [β, ɣ] and [βʷ, ɣʷ, ɣʲ] when preceding a glide, in medial-intervocalic position.
- /n/ becomes a labialized-velar [ŋʷ] when preceding a /w/.
- The palatalized /lʲ/ may also be heard in free variation, as a central glide [ɹ] or as a palatalized equivalent [ɹʲ].
- /n/ when palatalized is heard as a palatal nasal [ɲ], and is velar as [ŋ] when preceding velar consonants.[3]
Varieties
editGbagye is also known as Gwari-Matai or Gwarin Ngenge, which are recently adopted cover terms.[4]
There are two separate Gbagyi groups living in:[4]
Gbagye is the only Nupoid language that has the bilabial implosive /ɓ/.[4]
Gbagyi (also known as Gwari) is a cover term for all the Gbari-speaking peoples, and includes many varieties.[4]
Gbari-Yama is a cover term used for all southern Gbari dialects. There are two closely related dialects, which are:[4]
- Shigokpna
- Zubakpna
Gbedegi is an extinct language (possibly a Nupe dialect) spoken near Mokwa (Nadel 1941).[4]
References
edit- ^ Gbagyi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Gbari at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) - ^ a b c Rosendall, Heidi James (1992). A phonological study of the Gwari Lects. Dallas, Tex.: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- ^ a b Rosendall, Elias Patrick (1998). Aspects of Gbari Grammar. University of Texas at Arlington.
- ^ a b c d e f Blench, Roger. 2013. The Nupoid languages of west-central Nigeria: overview and comparative word list.
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