Yiwom (Ywom), also known as Gerka or Gerkawa by the

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 * ...

, is a Chadic (

Afro-Asiatic 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 ...

) language spoken in

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

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 ...

Sociolinguistic background

Ywom was formerly much more widespread, with Ywom toponyms found in southern Tarok-speaking areas.Blench, Roger. 2017
Current research on the A3 West Chadic languages

Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and works ...

(2013)Blench, Roger. 2013
However did Ywom become so strange?
reports that Ywom is spoken in Hyel Ywom town and nearby hamlets. Many Ywom speak Jukun and Tarok as additional languages. Due to influence from

Plateau languages The forty or so Plateau languages are a tentative group of Benue–Congo languages spoken by 15 million people on the Jos Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Nasarawa State and in adjacent areas in central Nigeria. Berom and Eggon have the most speakers. ...

, Ywom has various phonological features that are considered unusual for a

West Chadic The West Chadic languages of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in Niger and Nigeria. They include Hausa, the most populous Chadic language and a major language of West Africa. Languages The branches of West Chadic go either by n ...

language, such as labiovelar consonants.

Phonology

Tones are at least high and low. Mid tone may be allophonic. Rising and falling tones are probably restricted to sequences. Vowels are . There may also be an ?. Three vowels are long, . Consonants are: Syllable-initial consonant clusters are Cw, Cj, Cr and Cl. NC also occurs; the N takes its own tone.

References

External links

*Blench, Roger. 2013
However did Ywom become so strange?
*

Paradisec The Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) is a cross-institutional project that supports work on endangered languages and cultures of the Pacific and the region around Australia. They digitise reel-to ...

has an open access collection of

’s materials tha
includes Yiwom language materials
West Chadic languages Languages of Nigeria {{WChadic-lang-stub