Defaka language

Defaka
Defaka
Afakani
Défàkà
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Rivers State, Opobo–Nkoro
Ethnicity	Defaka
Native speakers	200 (2001)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Ijoid? Defaka; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	afn
Glottolog	defa1248
ELP	Defaka
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Defaka is an

Niger–Congo family.^[3] However, the Ijoid proposal is problematic. Blench (2012) notes that "Defaka has numerous external cognates and might be an isolate or independent branch of Niger–Congo which has come under Ịjọ influence."^[4]

People

Ethnically, the

Ijo language) as a first language. The next most used language among the Defaka is Igbo, owing to the political influence of the Opobo since the days of the Oil Rivers Trade. Igbo has been a language of instruction in many schools in the region and still functions as a regional trade language

.

Classification

The Defaka language shows many lexical similarities with Ijọ, some shared regular sound correspondences and some typological similarities with proto-Ịjọ. For example, both languages have a

Niger–Congo language family, being found only in the Mande and Dogon

branches.

a ebere ko̘ a okuna ɓááma (the dog SUBJECT the fowl kill:PAST) The dog killed the fowl (Defaka)
obiri ɓé o̘ɓó̘kō̘ ɓé ɓám̄ (dog the fowl the kill:PAST) The dog killed the fowl (Ịjọ, Kalaɓarị dialect)

Also, Defaka has a sex-gender system distinguishing between masculine, feminine, and neuter 3rd-person singular pronouns; this is once again a rarity among south-central Niger–Congo languages other than Ịjoid and Defaka.

á tóɓo 'her head'
o toɓo 'his head'
yé tóɓo 'its head'

While some of the lexical and maybe typological similarities can be attributed to borrowing (as Defaka has been in close contact with Ijọ for more than 300 years), the sound correspondences point to a (somewhat distant) genealogical relationship.^{[citation needed]}

Phonology

Nearly all Defaka are bilingual in Nkọrọọ, and the phonology appears to be the same as that language.

Tone

Defaka has two

word tones

than the combinations of syllable tones would suggest. However, these all clearly contrast with level-pitched high–high and rising-pitched low–high.

Vowels

The Ijoid vowel harmony has collapsed in Defaka, as it has in Nkọrọọ. There are seven oral vowels, /i ɪ e a ɔ o u/, though /e/ and /ɔ/ are uncommon. There are five nasal vowels, /ĩ ẽ ã õ ũ/. All may occur long. Long vowels are at least twice as long as short vowels.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar ~ palatal	Velar	Labial velar
Nasal	m	n		(ŋ)	(ŋ͡m)
Implosive	ɓ
Plosive	p b	t d		k ɡ	k͡p ɡ͡b
Affricate			d͡ʒ ~ z
Fricative	f v	s ~ ʃ
Lateral approximant		l
Tap ~ central approximant		ɾ ~ ɹ	j		w

Most voiceless obstruents are tenuis. However, /k͡p/ has a slightly negative voice onset time. That is, voicing commences somewhat before the consonant is released, as in English "voiced" stops such as b. This is typical of labial-velar stops. /ɡ͡b/, on the other hand, is fully voiced, as are the other voiced obstruents. Shryock et al. analyse the prenasalised stops [mb nd ŋɡ ŋɡ͡b] as consonant clusters with /m/. [d͡ʒ] varies with [z], with some speakers using one, some the other, and some either, depending on the word.

/j/ and /w/ may be nasalised before nasal vowels.

The velar plosives /k/ & /ɡ/ may be lenited to /x/ or /ɣ/ between vowels.

The tap /ɾ/ is pronounced as an approximant, [ɹ], by some speakers. It only occurs between vowels and at the ends of words.

References

^ Defaka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
^ "Did you know Defaka is severely endangered?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
^ Roger Blench, Niger-Congo: an alternative view
^ ^a ^b "Documenting Defaka & Nkoroo". defaka.rutgers.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2017-02-10.

Blench, Roger (2000, rev. 2003) 'Language Death in West Africa' (unpublished paper given at the Round Table on Language Endangerment, Bad Godesborg, February 12–17, 2000).
Jenewari, Charles E.W. (1983) 'Defaka, Ijo's Closest Linguistic Relative', in Dihoff, Ivan R. (ed.) Current Approaches to African Linguistics Vol 1, 85–111.
Shryock, A., Ladefoged, P., & Williamson, K. (1996/97) 'The phonetic structures of Defaka', Journal of West African Languages, 26, 2, 3–27.
Williamson, Kay. 1998. Defaka revisited. The multi-disciplinary approach to African history, edited by Nkparom C. Ejituwu, Chapter 9, 151-183. Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press.

External links

Defaka at UNESCO
Defaka word lists and recordings at The UCLA Phonetics Lab.
Defaka targeted by a proposal to document endangered languages.
Defaka and Nkoroo a project to document Defaka and Nkoroo

[e18-1] Defaka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[BlenchAtlas4-2] Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.

[3] "Did you know Defaka is severely endangered?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2017-02-10.

[4] Roger Blench, Niger-Congo: an alternative view

[:0-5] "Documenting Defaka & Nkoroo". defaka.rutgers.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2017-02-10.

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