Cerma language
Gur language of Burkina Faso
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cerma (Kirma) is a Gur language of Burkina Faso. It is spoken by the Gouin people (sometimes called Ciramba or Gouin (Gwe, Gwen)).
RegionBurkina Faso, a few in Ivory Coast
Native speakers
53,600 (2009)[1]Niger–Congo?
-
Atlantic–Congo
- Gur
- Southern Gur
- Kirma–Tyurama
- Cerma
- Kirma–Tyurama
- Southern Gur
- Gur
| Cerma | |
|---|---|
| Gouin | |
| Kirma | |
| Region | Burkina Faso, a few in Ivory Coast |
Native speakers | 53,600 (2009)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | cme |
| Glottolog | cerm1238 |
Phonology
Consonants
- Although /w/ is phonetically a labial-velar consonant, Lauber includes it in the dorsal/laryngeal column because its distribution is more like /k/ or /h/ than the labials or labial-velars.[2]
- Lauber excludes /l̪/, /r̪/, and //N// from the continuant section because their distributions are different.[2]
- /l̪/ is nasalized [l̃] "in a nasal context" and a voiceless alveolar lateral [l̥] at the end of an utterance.[3]
- /r̪/ is a nasal tap [ɾ̪̃] "in a nasal context" and a voiceless tap [ɾ̥] at the end of an utterance.[3]
- The archiphoneme //N// has the following allophones:[4]
- /Nj/ also becomes [ɲ].[4]
- Hürlimann and Pike (1985) note that the palatals are affricates, using the symbols ⟨č⟩ and ⟨j⟩.[5]
Vowels
- Lauber treats nasalization as a feature of the syllable, not the vowel.[2]
- In closed syllables, /i, u/ become near-close [ɪ, ʊ].[7]
- In the last syllable of the nuclear element of the phonological word before /r/, /e, ɔ, o/ are lengthened [eː, ɔː, oː].[8]
