Margi, also known as Marghi and Marghi Central, is a
Chadic language
The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type ...
(a
branch
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...
of
Afroasiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
) spoken in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
,
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
, and
Chad. It is perhaps the best described of the
Biu–Mandara branch of that family.
Marghi South language
Marghi South is a Chadic language
The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger
)
, official_lang ...
and
Putai are closely related and sometimes considered dialects of Margi.
There are several kinds of Marghi language, including Madube, Izge, Lassa, Gulak, Damboa, Mulgwai, Uba and Sukur.
Every kind of these languages were spoken different type of the language and were from different places.
Phonology
Vowels
According to Maddieson (1987), Margi is noted for having a
vertical vowel system
A vertical vowel system is the system of vowels in a language that requires only vowel height to phonemically distinguish vowels. Theoretically, rounding, frontness and backness could also be used in one-dimensional vowel systems; however, ''v ...
, with only two
phonemic
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west ...
vowels, and , in native vocabulary. Loan words also distinguish and .
Consonants
Margi has a large consonant inventory, with a number of
labialised
Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve ...
consonants and
typologically infrequent speech sounds such as a
labiodental flap
In phonetics, the voiced labiodental flap is a speech sound found primarily in languages of Central Africa, such as Kera and Mangbetu. It has also been reported in the Austronesian language Sika. It is one of the few non- rhotic flaps. The ...
. Hoffmann (1963) describes 84 consonantal phonemes, a very large number compared to that of most languages. This system, with a great number of non-
click consonants
Click consonants, or clicks, are speech sounds that occur as consonants in many languages of Southern Africa and in three languages of East Africa. Examples familiar to English-speakers are the '' tut-tut'' (British spelling) or '' tsk! tsk!'' ...
, compares to that of the Caucasian language
Ubykh, having the largest inventory of any language without clicks. However, Hoffmann's list of consonants includes all sequences of
consonant clusters
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
occurring in
onsets in the language. Many of these clusters have since been analysed as sequences, such as and . If labialized consonants are counted separately, there are 66 consonants that remain in the analysis, and 54 if it is interpreted as a sequence.
The velar may be closer to an approximant . The closely related language
Bura is similar but has a palatalised lateral series as well. is used in
mimesis rather than in lexical vocabulary. The glottalised consonants have been described as either
creaky voice
In linguistics, creaky voice (sometimes called laryngealisation, pulse phonation, vocal fry, or glottal fry) refers to a low, scratchy sound that occupies the vocal range below the common vocal register. It is a special kind of phonation in which ...
d or
implosive
Implosive consonants are a group of stop consonants (and possibly also some affricates) with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism.''Phonetics for communication disorders.'' Martin J. Ball and Nicole Müller. Ro ...
; according to Maddieson, they are evidently both, as in
Hausa
Hausa may refer to:
* Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa
* Hausa language, spoken in West Africa
* Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states
* Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse
See also
...
.
The sequences that Hoffmann included in his consonant inventory are all labial–coronal:
:
[There may be a few others, such as .]
See also
*
Marghi South
*
Marghi West
References
External links
Further reading
*Hoffmann, C. 1963. ''A Grammar of the Margi Language.'' Oxford University Press for International African Institute, London.
*Maddieson, I. 1987. "The Margi vowel system and labiocoronals." ''Studies in African Linguistics,'' vol. 18, No. 3, Dec. 1987.
Biu-Mandara languages
Languages of Nigeria
Vertical vowel systems
Languages of Niger
Languages of Cameroon
Languages of Chad
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