Ngas language
West Chadic language of Nigeria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ngas, or Angas, is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. The language has two dialects: Hill Angas and Plain Angas.[1] Ngas is one of the major languages in Plateau State. The 1952 census puts it as the largest ethnic group in Plateau State. Retired General Yakubu Gowon is a prominent Nigerian who is of Ngas ethnicity.
| Ngas | |
|---|---|
| Angas | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Plateau State |
| Ethnicity | Angas people |
Native speakers | (400,000 cited 1998)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | anc |
| Glottolog | ngas1240 |
Ethnic territories (tan) of the Ngas-speaking people (Angas) in Nigeria | |
Neighbouring languages
Bəlnəŋ is an A3 West Chadic language closely related to Angas. It is spoken by about 500 people in the single village of Langung, which is surrounded by Tal villages in the east and Miship villages in the west.[2]
Speakers of Sur, a Plateau language, are surrounded by Ngas speakers, but Sur nevertheless continues to be a well-maintained language.[3]
The Ngas language has also undergone extensive influence from Tarok.[4]
Phonology
Vowels
- Sounds /ɛ, ɔ/ are only heard as short equivalents of /eː, oː/, which are only heard as long.[5]
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palato- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | pal. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | pal. | |||
| Nasal | m | mʷ | mʲ | n | nʷ | ɲ | ɲʷ | ŋ | ||||||
| Stop/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | pʷ | pʲ | t | t͡ʃ | t͡ʃʷ | k | kʷ | ʔ | ||||
| voiced | b | bʷ | bʲ | d | d͡ʒ | d͡ʒʷ | ɡ | ɡʷ | ||||||
| vd. prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ⁿd͡ʒ | ᵑɡ | ||||||||||
| vl. prenasal | ᵐp | ⁿt͡ʃ | ᵑk | |||||||||||
| implosive | ɓ | ɓʷ | ɗ | ɠ | ɠʲʷ | ɠʲ | ||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | fʷ | fʲ | s | ʃ | ʃʷ | h | ||||||
| voiced | v | vʷ | z | ʒ | ʒʷ | ɣ | ||||||||
| vl. prenasal | ⁿʃ | |||||||||||||
| vd. prenasal | ⁿʒ | ⁿʒʷ | ||||||||||||
| Approximant | w | l | lʷ | j | ||||||||||
| Trill | voiced | r | rʷ | |||||||||||
| prenasal | ⁿr | |||||||||||||
Writing system
| a | b | ɓ | c | d | ɗ | dy | e | ǝ | f | g | h | ḥ | i | j | k | l |
| m | n | ṇ | ny | o | p | r | s | sh | t | u | v | w | y | z | ẓ | ʼ |
