Buwal language
{{Short description|Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Cameroon}}
{{Infobox language
| name=Buwal
| nativename=Gadala
| states=Cameroon
| region=Far North Province
| speakers=10,000
| date=2004
| ref=e18
| familycolor=Afro-Asiatic
| fam2=Chadic
| fam3=Biu–Mandara
| fam4=Daba (A.7)
| fam5=North
| iso3=bhs
| glotto=buwa1243
| glottorefname=Buwal
}}
Buwal, also known as Ma Buwal, Bual, or Gadala, is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Cameroon in Far North Province in and around Gadala.
Phonology
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Consonants ! | Labial | Alveolar | Lateral alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labialized velar | Labial-velar |
| Nasal
| {{IPAlink|m}} || {{IPAlink|n}} || || || {{IPAlink|ŋ}} || {{IPAlink|ŋʷ}} || {{IPAlink|ŋm}} | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless plosive
| {{IPAlink|p}} || {{IPAlink|t}} || || || {{IPAlink|k}} || {{IPAlink|kʷ}} || {{IPAlink|kp}} | |||||||
| Voiced plosive
| {{IPAlink|b}} || {{IPAlink|d}} || || || {{IPAlink|ɡ}} || {{IPAlink|ɡʷ}} || {{IPAlink|ɡb}} | |||||||
| Prenasalized plosive
| {{IPAlink|ᵐb}} || {{IPAlink|ⁿd}} || || || {{IPAlink|ᵑɡ}} || {{IPAlink|ᵑɡʷ}} || {{IPAlink|ᵑᵐɡb}} | |||||||
| Implosive
| {{IPAlink|ɓ}} || {{IPAlink|ɗ}} || || || || || | |||||||
| Voiceless affricate
| || {{IPAlink|ts}} || || || || || | |||||||
| Voiced affricate
| || {{IPAlink|dz}} || || || || || | |||||||
| Prenasalized affricate
| |{{IPAlink|ⁿdz}} | | | | | | |||||||
| Voiceless fricative
| {{IPAlink|f}} || {{IPAlink|s}} || {{IPAlink|ɬ}} || || {{IPAlink|x}} || {{IPAlink|xʷ}} || | |||||||
| Voiced fricative
| {{IPAlink|v}} || {{IPAlink|z}} || {{IPAlink|ɮ}} || || {{IPAlink|ɣ}} || {{IPAlink|ɣʷ}} || | |||||||
| Flap
| {{IPAlink|ⱱ}} || {{IPAlink|ɾ}}|| || || || || | |||||||
| Approximant
| || || {{IPAlink|l}} || {{IPAlink|j}} || || {{IPAlink|w}} || |
The labiodental flap {{IPA|/ⱱ/}} is marginal, only occurring in two native Buwal words. The labial-velar plosives are also marginal; in particular, {{IPA|/kp/}} only occurs in one word, the ideophone {{lang|bhs|kpaŋ}}.
Buwal has the vowels {{IPA|/{{IPAlink|ə}} {{IPAlink|a}}/}}, which can occur in high, middle, or low tone. Each vowel has a variety of phonetic realizations. {{IPA|/ə/}} can occur as {{IPA|[{{IPAlink|i}} {{IPAlink|u}} {{IPAlink|ɪ}} {{IPAlink|ʏ}} {{IPAlink|ʊ}}]}}, and {{IPA|/a/}} can occur as {{IPA|[{{IPAlink|e}} {{IPAlink|o}} {{IPAlink|ɛ}} {{IPAlink|œ}} {{IPAlink|ɐ}} {{IPAlink|ɔ}}]}}. The schwa can be analyzed as a solely epenthetic vowel. These vowels occur as rounded allophones when adjacent to a labialized consonant, and as front vowels when the word is palatalized.
Palatalization in Buwal occurs across an entire word, and also affects the affricate consonants {{IPA|/ts dz ⁿdz/}}, which surface as {{IPA|[{{IPAlink|tʃ}} {{IPAlink|dʒ}} {{IPAlink|ⁿdʒ}}]}} in a palatalized word. As a result, all of the vowels within a single word are either front or back, producing vowel harmony. An example of this contrast is between {{IPA|[mɐ̄ⁿdʊ́wɐ́n]}} 'rat' (underlyingly {{IPA|/māⁿdwán/}}), which is non-palatalized, and {{IPA|[mɛ̀vɛ̄ɗvɛ̄ɗɛ̄ŋ]}} (underlyingly {{IPA|/màvāɗvāɗāŋ/}}) 'turtle', which is palatalized. This process does not affect loanwords, e.g. {{IPA|[nɛ̀bɐ̄m]}} 'oil' (from Fulfulde {{lang|fub|nebbam}}) or {{IPA|[lɛ̀kʷól]}} 'school' (from French {{lang|fr|l'école}}). Some loanwords have been modified to accommodate Buwal phonology, e.g. {{IPA|[sɐ́j]}} 'tea', from Fulfulde {{lang|fub|sha'i}}.{{Cite thesis |last=Viljoen |first=Melanie Helen |title=A grammatical description of the Buwal language |date=2013 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=La Trobe University |hdl=1959.9/513436 |hdl-access=free }}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
{{Languages of Cameroon}}
{{Biu–Mandara languages}}
Category:Biu-Mandara languages
Category:Languages of Cameroon
Category:Vertical vowel systems
{{BiuMandara-lang-stub}}
{{Cameroon-stub}}