Wapan and other Jukunoid languages are interesting in the development of asymmetrical patterns of nasal and oral consonants in West Africa.
One could posit that voiced oral stops become nasal before nasal vowels, sometimes at the expense of having more nasal than oral vowels, which is typologically odd, or that nasal stops denasalise before oral vowels, which is typologically odd as well.
Oral vowels are allowed only in syllables like ba, mba, nasal vowels in bã, mã.
Historically, however, the consonants nasalized: *mb became **mm before nasal vowels and then reduced to *m, leaving the current asymmetric distribution.[3]
allophonic Ṽ next to N
*mã
*mãm
*mba
*mbãm
*ba
*bãm
*mb → *mm/_Ṽ
*mã
*mãm
*mba
*mmãm
*ba
*bãm
*mm → *m
*mã
*mãm
*mba
*mãm
*ba
*bãm
loss of final C
mã
mã
mba
mã
ba
bã
Referencesedit
^Wapan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ abBlench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
^Larry Hyman, 1975. "Nasal states and nasal processes." In Nasalfest: Papers from a Symposium on Nasals and Nasalization, pp. 249–264
February 26, 2024
wapan, language, confused, with, jukun, language, wapan, jukun, wapan, kororofa, also, known, wukari, after, local, town, wukari, major, jukunoid, language, nigeria, wapanjukunnative, tonigeriaregiontaraba, state, plateau, state, nasarawa, statenative, speaker. Not to be confused with Jukun language Wapan Jukun Wapan or Kororofa 2 also known as Wukari after the local town of Wukari is a major Jukunoid language of Nigeria WapanJukunNative toNigeriaRegionTaraba State Plateau State Nasarawa StateNative speakers 100 000 cited 1994 1 Language familyNiger Congo Atlantic Congo languagesBenue CongoJukunoidCentralKororofaWapanDialectsWukanWriting systemLatinLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code juk class extiw title iso639 3 juk juk a Glottologwapa1235ELPWapanVarieties editBlench 2019 lists the following varieties as part of the Kororofa Jukun Wapan cluster 2 Abinsi Wapan proper Hone Dampar spoken at Dampar Wukari LGA Phonology editWapan and other Jukunoid languages are interesting in the development of asymmetrical patterns of nasal and oral consonants in West Africa One could posit that voiced oral stops become nasal before nasal vowels sometimes at the expense of having more nasal than oral vowels which is typologically odd or that nasal stops denasalise before oral vowels which is typologically odd as well Oral vowels are allowed only in syllables like ba mba nasal vowels in ba ma Historically however the consonants nasalized mb became mm before nasal vowels and then reduced to m leaving the current asymmetric distribution 3 allophonic Ṽ next to N ma mam mba mbam ba bam mb mm Ṽ ma mam mba mmam ba bam mm m ma mam mba mam ba bamloss of final C ma ma mba ma ba baReferences edit Wapan at Ethnologue 18th ed 2015 subscription required a b Blench Roger 2019 An Atlas of Nigerian Languages 4th ed Cambridge Kay Williamson Educational Foundation Larry Hyman 1975 Nasal states and nasal processes In Nasalfest Papers from a Symposium on Nasals and Nasalization pp 249 264 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wapan language amp oldid 1191529918, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
