Ntcham language
| Ntcham | |
|---|---|
| Basari | |
| Native to | Togo, Ghana |
| Ethnicity | Gurma |
Native speakers | 390,000 (2004–2013)[1] |
| Latin (Basari alphabet) Basari Braille | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:bud – Ntchamaks – Akaselem |
| Glottolog | ntch1241 |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Ntcham, or Basari, is a language of the Gurma people in Togo and Ghana. Akaselem (Tchamba) is frequently listed as a separate language.
Phonology
[edit | edit source]The phonology used by Chanard and Hartell is given below. Abbott and Cox (1966) had a similar phonology, though the non labial-velar voiceless plosives were analyzed as aspirated, and vowel length was not distinguished.[2] Badie (1995) analyzes /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/ as /c/ and /ɟ/ and also includes phonemic /ɱ/, vowel lengths, and nasalized vowels.[3]
Consonants
[edit | edit source]| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/Affricate | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | kp |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | g | gb | |
| Fricative | f | s | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋm | |
| Trill | r | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||
Vowels
[edit | edit source]| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | eː | oː |
| Open-mid | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Tones
[edit | edit source]Ntcham also has high, low, and mid tones.[4]
Writing System
[edit | edit source]
| Majuscules | A | B | C | D | EE | F | G | GB | I | J | K | KP | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minuscules | a | b | c | d | ee | f | g | gb | i | j | k | kp | l |
| Majuscules | M | N | NY | Ŋ | ŊM | OO | Ɔ | P | S | T | U | W | Y |
| Minuscules | m | n | ny | ŋ | ŋm | oo | ɔ | p | s | t | u | w | y |
Long vowels are indicated by doubling the letter ‹aa, ii, ɔɔ, uu› and two vowels are always long ‹ee, oo›. The tones are represented by acute accents for high tone and grave accents for low tone, on the vowels and the consonants m, n, b, l : ‹ḿ, ń, b́, ĺ›, ‹m̀, ǹ, b̀, l̀›.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Ntcham at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
Akaselem at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon - ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., citing Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., citing Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
