Jagham language

Ekoid language of Nigeria and Cameroon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Jagham language, Ejagham, also known as Ekoi, is an Ekoid language of Nigeria and Cameroon spoken by the Ekoi people. The E- in Ejagham represents the class prefix for "language", analogous to the Bantu ki- in KiSwahili

NativetoNigeria, Cameroon
EthnicityEkoi people
Native speakers
(120,000 cited 2000)[1]
Quick facts Ekoi, Native to ...
Ekoi
Ejagham
Native toNigeria, Cameroon
EthnicityEkoi people
Native speakers
(120,000 cited 2000)[1]
Dialects
  • Akin
  • Bendeghe
  • Northern Etung
  • Southern Etung
  • Ekwe
  • Akamkpa-Ejagham
  • Keaka
  • Obang
  • Nkim
  • Nkum
  • Ekajuk
Nsibidi, Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3etu
Glottologejag1239
  Ejagham
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The Ekoi are one of several peoples who use Nsibidi ideographs, and may be the ones that created them.

Dialects

Ekoi is dialectally diverse. The dialects of Ejagham are divided into Western and Eastern groups:

  • Western varieties include Bendeghe, Northern and Southern Etung, Ekwe and Akamkpa-Ejagham;
  • Eastern varieties include Keaka and Obang.[2]

Blench (2019) also lists Ekin as an Ejagham dialect.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Labial Alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal		 Velar Labio-
velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t t͡ʃ k k͡p
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ ɡ͡b
Fricative voiceless f s
voiced (β) (ɣ)
Tap ɾ
Approximant j w
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  • Stop sounds /b, ɡ/ are lenited to fricatives [β, ɣ] when in intervocalic positions.
  • Velar sounds [k, ɡ; (ɣ)] can be heard as uvular [q, (ʁ)] when in syllable-final position.[4]

Vowels

More information Front, Central ...
Front Central Back
Close i ʉ[a] u
Close-mid e[b] ə o[b]
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
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  1. [a]
    Occurs as unrounded /ɨ/ in the eastern Ejagham dialect. Does not occur in the southern dialect.
  2. [b]
    Only occurs in the southern Ejagham dialect.

Writing system

A Jagham alphabet was developed by John R. Watters and Kathie Watters in 1981.

Western Jagham alphabet[5]
abbhchd eəfggb ghijkkp mnnyŋo prstu ʉwy

Morphology

Ekoi has the following noun classes, listed here with their Bantu equivalents. Watters (1981) says there are fewer than in Bantu because of mergers (class 4 into 3, 7 into 6, etc.), though Blench notes that there is no reason to think that the common ancestral language had as many noun classes as proto-Bantu.

More information Noun class, Prefix ...
Noun classPrefixConcord
1N-w, ɲ
2a-b
3N-m
5ɛ-j
6a-m
8bi-b
9N-j, ɲ
14ɔ-b
19i-f
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('N' stands for a homorganic nasal. 'j' is "y".)

References

External links

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