The Gula Iro language (autonym ''kùláál'') is a
Bua language
The Bua language (also called Ba) is spoken north of the Chari River around Korbol and Gabil in Chad. In 1993 it was spoken by some 8,000 people. It is the largest member of the small Bua languages, Bua group of languages and is mutually comprehe ...
spoken by some 3,500 people (in 1991) north and east of
Lake Iro
Iro Lake (french: Lac Iro) is a cyclically occurring lake in the Moyen-Chari Region in southeastern Chad. It is fed in the summer and autumn months from the eastern arm of the Bahr Salamat, which forks seven kilometers southwest of the lake. The l ...
in southern
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
, between the
Bola
Bola may refer to:
People
* Bola (name), a surname and given name
* Darrell Fitton, electronic musician from Manchester, England, AKA "Bola" and "Jello"
Geography
* Bola (volcano), a volcano on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea
* Bo ...
and
Salamat rivers. It has four dialects, according to Pairault:
*''páṭóól'' (350 speakers), the northernmost and the least comprehensible to speakers of the other dialects, spoken in and around
Badi;
*''pòŋààl'' (2,000 speakers), by the north shore of the lake, spoken in and around
Boum Kabir,
Boum Sarher, and
Tordjigel;
*''tɩ́ààlà'' (730 speakers), spoken east and south of the lake, including
Kouré,
Bouni,
Tormorhal, and
Masidjanga;
*''tííṭààl'' (200 speakers), the easternmost, spoken in various villages west of
Tamba;
to which
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
adds a fifth, Korintal (170 speakers), spoken in
Tieou.
[
Gula Iro is very closely related to Zan Gula and Bon Gula, but they are not mutually comprehensible.
]
Phonology
The consonants, along with their orthography, are:
The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ɛ, ɩ, ɔ, ʋ. Nasalization (only on a, e, o) and length are both contrastive, and diphthongs can be formed. Tone is phonemic; each vowel must carry high or low tone.
Grammar
Typical word order is subject–verb–object. The basic subject pronouns are: ''ñó'' I, ''mó'' you (sg.), ''á'' he/she/it, ''pʋ́'' we (exclusive), ''én'' we (inclusive), ''í'' you (pl.), ''ʋ́'' they.
Bibliography
* P. Boyeldieu. "La formation du pluriel nominal en kulaal (Tchad): essai de systématisation des documents publiés par C. Pairault". ''Afrika und Übersee'', 1986, n° 69, vol. 2, p. 209-249.
* C. Pairault, ''Documents du parler d'iro: kùláál du Tchad''. Langues et Littérature de l'Afrique Noire V. Klincksieck: Paris 1969.
References
{{Adamawa languages
Languages of Chad
Bua languages