Nyangatom language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nyangatom
Native to
Omo River region
EthnicityNyangatom
Native speakers
24,000 (2007 census)[1]
?
none
Language codes
ISO 639-3nnj
Glottolognyan1315
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Nyangatom (also Inyangatom, Donyiro, Dongiro, Idongiro) is a Nilotic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Nyangatom people. It is an oral language only, having no working orthography at present. Related languages include Toposa and Turkana, both of which have a level of mutual intelligibility; Blench (2012) counts it as a dialect of Turkana.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Plosive
Voiceless
p t k
Voiced b d ɡ
Affricate
Voiceless t͡ʃ
Voiced d͡ʒ
Fricative
s
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Flap
r
Approximant
w l j

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Near-close ɪ ʊ
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
  • Vowel length is contrastive in Nyangatom, as in dʒík 'completely' vs. dʒíík 'always'
  • Before a pause, short vowels carrying a single, simple tone are devoiced.

Bibliography

  • Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. 2007. "Ñaŋatom language" in Siegbert Uhlig (ed.) Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol 3. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 1131–1132.

References