Margi language

Margi
Native to Nigeria
Region Borno State, Adamawa State
Native speakers
 160,000  (2006)[1]
Afro-Asiatic
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mrt
Glottolog marg1265[2]

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Ethnic territories of the Marghi-speaking people in Nigeria (pinkish red)

Margi, also known as Marghi and Marghi Central, is a Chadic language spoken in Nigeria. It is perhaps the best described of the Biu–Mandara branch of that family. Marghi South and Putai are closely related, and sometimes considered dialects of Margi.[1]

Phonology

Margi is noted for having a vertical vowel system, with only two vowels, /ɨ/ and /a/, in native vocabulary. (Loan words also distinguish /ɛ/ and /o/.) There are two tones, high and low, with some syllables unmarked for tone. Margi also has a large consonant inventory, with a number of labialized consonants and unusual phones such as a labiodental flap. Hoffmann (1963) describes 84 consonantal phonemes, an enormous number compared to that of most languages - equivalent to that of Ubykh as the largest inventory of any language without clicks. However, Hoffmann's list of consonants includes all onsets in the language, many of which other researchers have since analyzed as sequences, such as /pt/ and /bz/.[3] What remains are 66 consonants if labialization is counted separately, or 54 if it is interpreted as a /Cw/ sequence.

Consonants
LabialDentalAlveolarLateralPost-
alveolar		PalatalVelarLabio-
velar		Glottal
Nasal m mʷn ɲŋŋʷ
Glottalized ɓ̰ ɓ̰ʷɗ̰ j̰ w̰
Prenasalized mpnt ntʷnts ntsʷ ntʃɲcŋkŋkʷ
mb mbʷndndz ndʒɲɟŋɡŋɡʷ
Oral
occlusive		 p pʷt tʷts tʃckkʷʔ
b bʷddz dʒɟɡɡʷ
Fricative f fʷ s sʷɬ ɬʷʃ[ç]xʍ
v vʷ zɮʒ[ʝ]ɣ
Approximant l jw
Vibrant ⱱr

[ç] and [ʝ] are palatalized allophones of /x/ and /ɣ/, the latter of which is closer to an approximant [ɰ].[4] The closely related language Bura is similar but has a palatalized lateral series as well. /ⱱ/ is used in mimesis rather than in lexical vocabulary. The glottalized consonants /ɓ̰ ɓ̰ʷ ɗ̰/ have been described as either creaky voiced or implosive; according to Maddieson, they are evidently both, as in Hausa.[5]

The sequences which Hoffmann included in his consonant inventory are all labial–coronal:

ps [fs], pɬ, pç [fç], pt, pts, ptʃ, mpt, mpts, mptʃ, bz [vz], bɮ, (bʝ [vʝ]), bd, bdz, bdʒ, mbd, mbdz, mbdʒ, ɓ̰ɗ̰, mn[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Margi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Marghi Central". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 344. ISBN 0-631-19814-8. There are very few true labial–coronal consonants in the world.
  4. ↑ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 165. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
  5. ↑ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 85. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
  6. ↑ There may be a few others, such as pɬ~mɬ, mʃ~mtʃ.

References