| Gula Iro | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Chad |
| Native speakers | 3,500 (date missing) |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | glj |
The Gula Iro language (autonym kùláál) is a Bua language spoken by some 3,500 people (as of 1991) north and east of Lake Iro in southern Chad, between the Bola and Salamat rivers. It has four dialects, according to Pairault:
to which SIL adds a fifth, Korintal, spoken in Tieou.
Gula Iro is very closely related to Zan Gula and Bon Gula, but they are not mutually comprehensible.
Contents |
The consonants, in with their orthography, are:
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Apico-dental | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | p | t | ṭ | k | |||
| Fricatives | f | s | h | ||||
| Liquids | w | l | y | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ñ | ŋ | |||
| Trills | r |
The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ɛ, ɩ, ɔ, ʋ. Nasalization (only on a, e, o) and length are both contrastive, and diphthongs can be formed. Tone is phonemic; each vowel must carry high or low tone.
Typical word order is subject–verb–object. The basic subject pronouns are: ñó I, mó you (sg.), á he/she/it, pʋ́ we (exclusive), én we (inclusive), í you (pl.), ʋ́ they.