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Ngas language

{{Short description|West Chadic language of Nigeria}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Ngas

| states = Nigeria

| region = Plateau State

| speakers = 400,000

| date = 1998

| ref = e18

| familycolor = Afro-Asiatic

| fam2 = Chadic

| fam3 = West Chadic

| fam4 = Bole–Angas

| fam5 = Angas (A.3)

| iso3 = anc

| glotto = ngas1240

| glottorefname = Ngas

| map = Afro asiatic peoples nigeria.png

| mapcaption = Ethnic territories (tan) of the Ngas-speaking people (Angas) in Nigeria

| ethnicity = Angas people

| altname = Angas

| dia1 = Hill

| dia2 = Plain

| script = Latin

}}

Ngas, or Angas, is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. The language has two dialects: Hill Angas and Plain Angas. Ngas is one of the major languages in Plateau State. The 1952 census puts it as the largest ethnic group in Plateau State. Retired General Yakubu Gowon is a prominent Nigerian who is of Ngas ethnicity.

Neighbouring languages

Bəlnəŋ is an A3 West Chadic language closely related to Angas. It is spoken by about 500 people in the single village of Langung, which is surrounded by Tal villages in the east and Miship villages in the west.Blench, Roger. 2017. [https://www.academia.edu/35507157/CURRENT_RESEARCH_ON_THE_A3_WEST_CHADIC_LANGUAGES Current research on the A3 West Chadic languages].

Speakers of Sur, a Plateau language, are surrounded by Ngas speakers, but Sur nevertheless continues to be a well-maintained language.Blench, Roger. 2004. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Plateau/Tarokoid/Tarokoid-subclassification.pdf Tarok and related languages of east-central Nigeria].

The Ngas language has also undergone extensive influence from Tarok.{{cite conference|url=https://www.academia.edu/11341916|title=Some Historical Inferences from Lexical Borrowings and Traditions of Origins in the Tarokoid/Chadic Interface|last=Longtau|first=Selbut|conference=International Symposium on Endangered Languages in Contact: Nigeria’s Plateau Languages|date=25–26 March 2004|location=Hamburg|publisher=Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universität Hamburg}}

Phonology

= Vowels =

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

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

align="center"

!Close

|{{IPAlink|i}} {{IPA link|iː}}

|

|{{IPAlink|u}} {{IPA link|uː}}

align="center"

!Close-mid

|{{IPAlink|eː}}

| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ə}} {{IPA link|əː}}

|{{IPAlink|oː}}

Open-mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ}}

align="center"

!Open

|

|{{IPAlink|a}} {{IPA link|aː}}

|

  • Sounds /ɛ, ɔ/ are only heard as short equivalents of /eː, oː/, which are only heard as long.{{Cite book |last=Jungraithmayr |first=Herrmann |title=The Ngas Language (Shik Ngas): Fundamentals of Grammar, Texts, Dictionary |last2=Holubová |first2=Miroslava |publisher=Berlin: Dietrich Reimer |year=2016}}

= Consonants =

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

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! colspan="3" |Labial

! colspan="2" |Alveolar

! colspan="2" |Palato-
alveolar

! colspan="2" |Palatal

! colspan="3" |Velar

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

plain

!lab.

!pal.

!plain

!lab.

!plain

!lab.

!plain

!lab.

!plain

!lab.

!pal.

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPAlink|m}}

|{{IPAlink|mʷ}}

|{{IPAlink|mʲ}}

|{{IPAlink|n}}

|{{IPAlink|nʷ}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɲʷ}}

|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}

|

|

|

rowspan="5" |Stop/
Affricate

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|p}}

|{{IPAlink|pʷ}}

|{{IPAlink|pʲ}}

|{{IPAlink|t}}

|

|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}

|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃʷ}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|k}}

|{{IPAlink|kʷ}}

|

|{{IPAlink|ʔ}}

voiced

|{{IPAlink|b}}

|{{IPAlink|bʷ}}

|{{IPAlink|bʲ}}

|{{IPAlink|d}}

|

|{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}

|{{IPAlink|d͡ʒʷ}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ɡ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɡʷ}}

|

|

vd. prenasal

|{{IPAlink|ᵐb}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ⁿd}}

|

|{{IPAlink|ⁿd͡ʒ}}

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ᵑɡ}}

|

|

|

vl. prenasal

|{{IPAlink|ᵐp}}

|

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ⁿt͡ʃ}}

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ᵑk}}

|

|

|

implosive

|{{IPAlink|ɓ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɓʷ}}

|

|{{IPAlink|ɗ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ɠ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɠʲʷ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɠʲ}}

|

rowspan="4" |Fricative

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|f}}

|{{IPAlink|fʷ}}

|{{IPAlink|fʲ}}

|{{IPAlink|s}}

|

|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}

|{{IPAlink|ʃʷ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|h}}

voiced

|{{IPAlink|v}}

|{{IPAlink|vʷ}}

|

|{{IPAlink|z}}

|

|{{IPAlink|ʒ}}

|{{IPAlink|ʒʷ}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ɣ}}

|

|

|

vl. prenasal

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ⁿʃ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

vd. prenasal

|

|

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ⁿʒ}}

|{{IPAlink|ⁿʒʷ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Approximant

|{{IPAlink|w}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|l}}

|{{IPAlink|lʷ}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|j}}

|

|

|

|

|

rowspan="2" |Trill

!voiced

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|r}}

|{{IPAlink|rʷ}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

prenasal

|

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ⁿr}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

Writing system

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

|+ Ngas alphabet{{sfn|Hartell|1993}}

| a

bɓcd

| ɗ

dyeǝf

| g

hḥij

| k

l
mnṇnyo

| p

rssht

| u

vwyz

| ẓ

ʼ

Notes

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Donald A. Burquest. 1971. A Preliminary Study of Angas Phonology. Zaria: Institute of Linguistics.
  • Donald A. Burquest. 1973. A Grammar of Angas. University of California at Los Angeles, PhD dissertation.

External links

  • [http://mammana.org/bcp/angas1921/ Litafin Addua: The Book of Common Prayer in the Angas Language] (1921) digitized by Richard Mammana

{{Languages of Nigeria}}

{{West Chadic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngas language}}

Category:Languages of Nigeria

Category:West Chadic languages

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{{Nigeria-stub}}