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Jju language

{{Short description|Plateau language spoken in Nigeria}}

{{use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}{{Distinguish|Jeju language}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Jju

| nativename = {{lang|kaj|Du̱ryem Jju}}

| altname = Jhyuo, Kaje

| ethnicity = Bajju people

| states = Nigeria

| region = Kaduna State

| speakers = {{sigfig|610,000|1}}

| date = 2020

| ref = e25

| familycolor = Niger-Congo

| fam2 = Atlantic–Congo

| fam3 = Benue–Congo

| fam4 = Plateau

| fam5 = Central ?

| fam6 = Tyapic

| iso3 = kaj

| glotto = jjuu1238

| glottorefname = Jju

}}

{{Infobox ethnonym|person=|people=Ba̠jju|language=Jju|country=Ka̠jju|root=Jju{{Cite book|title=An Atlas of Nigerian Languages|last=Blench|first=Roger|publisher=Kay Williamson Educational Foundation|year=2019|edition=4th|location=Cambridge}}}}

Jju ({{langx|kcg|Jhyuo}}; {{langx|ha|Kaje, Kache}}) is the native language of the Bajju people of Kaduna State in central Nigeria. As of 1988, there were approximately 300,000 speakers. Jju is one of the Southern Kaduna languages.{{Cite web|url = http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/Bajju1238|website= Glottolog |version=3.0 |title=Bajju|language = en|access-date = 2017-05-05}}{{Dead link|date=August 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{failed verification|date=June 2024}} Although usually listed separately from the Tyap cluster, Jju's separation, according to Blench R.M. (2018), seems to be increasingly ethnic rather than a linguistic reality.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqF5DwAAQBAJ&dq=Tyap&pg=PA128|title=East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs |series=Niger-Congo Comparative Studies |volume=1 |chapter=Nominal affixes and number marking in the Plateau languages|editor-last=Watters |editor-first=John R.|last=Blench|first=Roger M.|publisher=Language Science Press|pages=128–129|location=Berlin|year=2018|isbn=9783961101009 |access-date=14 December 2023}}

Distribution

Jju is spoken as a first language by the Bajju people in Zangon Kataf, Jema'a, Kachia, Kaura and Kaduna South Local Government Areas of Kaduna state. It is also spoken in neighbouring Atyap, Fantswam, Agworok, Ham, Adara, and other kin communities as a second or third language.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Phonology

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Vowels{{sfn|McKinney|1990|p=256}}

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

align="center"

!Close

|{{IPAlink|i}}

|{{IPAlink|ɨ}}

|{{IPAlink|u}}

align="center"

!Mid

|{{IPAlink|e}}

|{{IPAlink|ə}}

|{{IPAlink|o}}

align="center"

!Open

|

|{{IPAlink|a}}

|

A few words also include the long vowels {{IPAslink|aː}} and {{IPAslink|oː}}.{{sfn|McKinney|1990|p=256}}

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Consonants{{sfn|McKinney|1990|p=257}}

! colspan="2" |

!colspan="2" |Labial

!colspan="2" |Alveolar

!colspan="2" |Palatal

!colspan="2" |Velar

!colspan="2" |Labial–velar

rowspan="2" |Nasal

!plain

|colspan=2| {{IPAlink|m}}

|colspan=2| {{IPAlink|n}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2| {{IPAlink|ŋ}}

|colspan=2|

tense

|colspan=2| {{IPAlink|mː}}

|colspan=2| {{IPAlink|nː}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2| {{IPAlink|ŋː}}

|colspan=2|

rowspan="2" |Stop

!plain

|{{IPAlink|p}} || {{IPAlink|b}}

|{{IPAlink|t}} || {{IPAlink|d}}

|colspan=2|

|{{IPAlink|k}} || {{IPAlink|ɡ}}

|{{IPAlink|k͡p}} || {{IPAlink|ɡ͡b}}

tense

|{{IPAlink|pː}} || {{IPAlink|bː}}

|{{IPAlink|tː}} || {{IPAlink|dː}}

|colspan=2|

|{{IPAlink|kː}} || {{IPAlink|ɡː}}

|colspan=2|

rowspan="2" |Affricate

!plain

|{{IPAlink|p͡f}} || {{IPAlink|b͡v}}

|{{IPAlink|t͡s}} || {{IPAlink|d͡z}}

|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}} || {{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

tense

|{{IPAlink|p͡fː}} || {{IPAlink|b͡vː}}

|{{IPAlink|t͡sː}} || {{IPAlink|d͡zː}}

|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃː}} || {{IPAlink|d͡ʒː}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

rowspan="2" |Fricative

!plain

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|f}}

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|s}}

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

tense

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|fː}}

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|sː}}

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|ʃː}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

rowspan="3" |Rhotic

!tap

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|ɾ}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

tense

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|ɾː}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

trill

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|{{IPAlink|r}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

rowspan="4" |Approximant

!labial

|{{IPAlink|ʍ}} ||{{IPAlink|w}}

|colspan=2|

|{{IPAlink|ɥ̊}} || {{IPAlink|ɥ}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

lab. tense

|{{IPAlink|ʍː}} || {{IPAlink|wː}}

|colspan=2|

|{{IPAlink|ɥ̊ː}} || {{IPAlink|ɥː}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

central

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|{{IPAlink|j̊}} || {{IPAlink|j}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

tense

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

| || {{IPAlink|jː}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

  • There is a tenseness distinction, which McKinney (1990) calls a fortis-lenis distinction. McKinney analyzes the fortis consonants as longer than lenis consonants.{{sfn|McKinney|1990|p=256}}
  • There is allophonic palatalization before front vowels and allophonic labialization before rounded vowels.{{sfn|McKinney|1990|p=257}}
  • Most consonants have a three-way contrast between plain, labialized [ʷ], and palatalized [ʲ].{{harvnb|McKinney|1990|p=257}}, citing {{cite book |last=Hyuwa |year=1986 |first=D. |chapter=Kaje orthography |title=Orthographies of Nigerian Languages |volume=3/4 |pages=72-99 |location=Lagos, Nigeria

|publisher=National Language Centre}}

  • Aspiration [ʰ] may phonetically occur among stops.{{sfn|McKinney|1990|p=262}}
  • Tense stops {{IPA|/kː ɡː/}} may also be heard as affricates {{IPA|[k͡x, ɡ͡ɣ]}}.{{sfn|McKinney|1990|page=260}}

Numerals

{{no sources section|date=June 2024}}

class="wikitable"

! Numeral !! Jju word

1{{lang|kaj|A̠yring}}
2{{lang|kaj|A̠hwa}}
3{{lang|kaj|A̠tat}}
4{{lang|kaj|A̠naai}}
5{{lang|kaj|A̠pfwon}}
6{{lang|kaj|A̠kitat}}
7{{lang|kaj|A̠tiyring}}
8{{lang|kaj|A̠ninai}}
9{{lang|kaj|A̠kumbvuyring}}
10{{lang|kaj|Swak}}
11{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠yring}}
12{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠hwa}}
13{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠tat}}
14{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠naai}}
15{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠pfwon}}
16{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠kitat}}
17{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠tiyring}}
18{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠ninai}}
19{{lang|kaj|Swak bu a̠kumbvuyring}}
20{{lang|kaj|Nswak nh|c}}
30{{lang|kaj|Nswak ntat}}
40{{lang|kaj|Nswak nnaai}}
50{{lang|kaj|Nswak npfwon}}
60{{lang|kaj|Nswak a̠kitat}}
70{{lang|kaj|Nswak a̠tiyring}}
80{{lang|kaj|Nswak a̠ninai}}
90{{lang|kaj|Nswak a̠kumbvuyring}}
100{{lang|kaj|Cyi}}
1000{{lang|kaj|Cyikwop}}

Vocabulary

List of vocabulary relating to body parts.{{Cite tweet |user=_Lifeofses |number=1725815081806561469|title=Went to my Aunts house and I saw this. Parts of the body in Jju language,a language that is being spoken by Bajju people from southern part of kaduna.A proper Bajju man should learn from this😁.}}{{better source needed|date=June 2024}}

  • zwuoi - nose
  • shog - cheek
  • a̠kpukpa ka̠nu - lip
  • zwuak - throat
  • du̱ryem - tongue
  • pffwa - neck
  • ka̠dyet - chin
  • ka̠hog - chest
  • trang - beard
  • kawiyang - armpit
  • du̱ccu - head
  • a̠nyyi teeth
  • tsuo mbvak - elbow
  • ka̠ma - back
  • du̱kkwat - back of head
  • tak - leg
  • ka̠hwa - stomach
  • du̱kkwut - knee
  • hun-tak ankle
  • gruang - shoulder
  • kanu - mouth
  • kop - navel
  • pffwo - ear
  • du̱ssi - eye
  • a̠cat - hair
  • du̱byiang - breast
  • ka̠ta̠ssi - forehead
  • a̠ta̠ngbak - wrist
  • ka̠ta̠ng-hurung bak - finger
  • bva̠k - hand

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • {{cite journal |last1=McKinney |first1=Norris P. |title=Temporal characteristics of fortis stops and affricates in Tyap and Jju |journal=Journal of Phonetics |date=April 1990 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=255–266 |doi=10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30392-4 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30392-4 |issn=0095-4470|url-access=subscription }}

External links

  • [https://voiceofjju.com/kaj/ka%CC%B1bvwa-ka-ni-za-shya-ni Diwan Jju (Voice of Jju)]

{{Incubator|kaj}}{{Wikivoyage|Jju phrasebook|Jju language}}

{{Platoid languages}}

Category:Tyapic languages

Category:Central Plateau languages

Category:Languages of Nigeria

{{plateau-lang-stub}}