Jibu is a Jukunoid language spoken in the

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

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 of G ...

by 30,000 people.

Phonology

In Jibu, there are 18 consonant phonemes, 9 vowels (which are represented just using three letters), and three tones (rising, mid-level, and falling). In Jibu, nasalization, labialization, and palatalization are considered to be part of the syllable, and are written along with it after the vowel.

Nasalization In phonetics, nasalization (or nasalisation) is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth. An archetypal nasal sound is . In the Internation ...

is represented with ''n'', except when it is at the end of a syllable it becomes doubled (/kʲã/ becomes ''kyann'').

Labialization 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 involv ...

is represented with ''w'', and palatalization with ''y'' respectively.

Vowels

In Jibu, there are 9 phonemically different

vowels A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (l ...

, which are represented by three different symbols. A tenth sound resembling /u/ (as in ''you''), is only used in loanwords from other languages, such as the neighboring

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 ...

, and is represented by ''u''.

Consonants

Jibu has 18 different

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced ...

phonemes. Some different phonemes are represented by the same symbol, such as /ʃ/ and /s/ being both represented as ''s'' in their older modified

Americanist Phonetic Notation Americanist phonetic notation, also known as the North American Phonetic Alphabet (NAPA), the Americanist Phonetic Alphabet or the American Phonetic Alphabet (APA), is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and American an ...

orthographic forms. If all of the consonant phonemes are represented using their older

counterparts, there is no orthographic overlap. The sound /ɗ/, which is used in some

loanwords, is commonly represented using '''d''.

Tones

Jibu has three tones (four if the base tone is included). These tones are high (´), lowered-mid (') and low (`). The base tone is not written on words and in more recent publications, neither is the lowered-mid tone.

Orthography

The system used today in Jibu includes some symbols for transcribing sounds in Hausa loanwords, the older system, which is a slightly modified version of Americanist Phonetic Notation, does not include a symbol for the transcription of ''h'', and includes the fact that multiple phonemes are transcribed as a single symbol in multiple cases.

Verbs

In Jibu, verbs are not conjugated, which is a common aspect among Junkanoid languages. Instead, the pronoun is placed before the verb, and all aspect markers are placed before the pronoun. Intransitive: á (work! - ''á sar'') Continuative action: ri (are working - ''ri sar'') Completed action: hiŋ (did work - ''hiŋ sar'') Completive action: rìg, rìghiŋ (work has been completed - ''rìg sar'')

Pronouns

Jibu pronouns do not reflect gender, the word ''wá'' meaning he, she, or it, unlike English, does not have multiple forms based on gender.

Phrases

* Good afternoon - aku àyúnn-à * Good morning - bib kyàr * Sorry! - àtau! * Hurry! - á àzwab! * Hello, thank you - ísoko, soko

Literature

Biblical Texts

Psalm 100

This text of the 100th psalm is presented in the standardized non-Americanist Phonetic Notation literary orthography.

References

{{Platoid languages Jukunoid languages Languages of Nigeria