Guruntum language

Guruntum
Guruntum-Mbaaru
gùrdùŋ
Spoken in Nigeria
Native speakers 15,000 (As of 1993)  (date missing)
Language family
Language codes
ISO 639-3 grd
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Guruntum is a Chadic language spoken by about 15,000 people (as of 1993) in Nigeria.

Contents

Classification

Guruntum is a West Chadic language of the B subgroup.

Major dialects include Kuuku, Gayar, Mbaaru, Dooka, Gar and Karakara.

Phonology

Vowels

Guruntum contrasts long and short forms for all vowels except for /ɨ/. In addition, two nasalized vowel phonemes exist: /ũː/ /ãː/.

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i iː ɨ u uː ũː
Mid e eː o oː
Open a aː ãː

There are two diphthongs, /ai/ and /au/.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Postalveolar
or palatal		 Velar
Plain Palatalized Labialized Plain Palatalized Labialized
Nasal m mʲ mʷ n nʲ ŋ
Stop prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ᶮdʒ ᵑɡ ᵑɡʲ ᵑɡʷ
voiceless p pʲ t k kʲ kʷ
voiced b bʲ d dʒ ɡ ɡʲ ɡʷ
implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative voiceless f fʲ fʷ s ʃ
voiced v vʷ z ʒ
Trill r
Approximant l j w

/r/ is realized as a flap intervocalically before back vowels; elsewhere it is a trill.

Tone

Guruntum has four tones: high, low, rising (low-high) and falling (high-low).

References