Ron languages

{{Infobox language family

|name=Ron

|altname=Ron–Fyer

|region=Mangu LGA, Plateau State, Nigeria

|familycolor=Afro-Asiatic

|fam2=Chadic

|fam3=West Chadic

|protoname=Proto-Ron

|child1=Ron

|child2=Fyer

|glotto=west2716

|glottorefname=West Chadic A.4

|map=West Chadic Languages.jpg

|mapcaption=West Chadic per Newman (1977)

}}

File:Afro asiatic peoples nigeria.png

The Ron, Ronic or Ron–Fyer languages, group A.4 of the West Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, are spoken in Plateau State, north-central Nigeria.

The Ron languages have 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}}

Languages

The Ron languages, and their tentative relationships, are:Blench, Roger. [https://www.academia.edu/9598030/Comparative_Ron_wordlist Comparative Ron wordlist].

;Ron

Fyer, Tambas
(branch)
Central Ron
Daffo-Mbar-Butura
Bokkos
Monguna (Shagawu) [perhaps actually closer to Sha]
Sha
Mangar
Mundat–Karfa
Mundat
Karfa (Duhwa)
Kulere (Richa)

Blench (2019){{Cite book|title=An Atlas of Nigerian Languages|last=Blench|first=Roger|publisher=Kay Williamson Educational Foundation|year=2019|edition=4th|location=Cambridge}} groups the following in the (Central) Ron/Run dialect cluster: Bokkos, Mbar, Daffo–Butura, Manguna, Mangar, Sha.

While noting that Ron is in fact a complex linkage, Blench (2003) rejects two of the connections proposed in Seibert (1998) [Sha with Mundat–Karfa and Mangar with Kulere/Richa]:Seibert, Uwe. 1998. Das Ron von Daffo (Jos-Plateau, Zentralnigeria): morphologische, syntaktische und textlinguistische Strukturen einer westtschadischen Sprache. (Europäische Hochschulschriften: Reihe XXVII: Asiatische und Afrikanische Studien, 66.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang

Northern: Fyer, Tambas
Central: Bokkos, Daffo-Mbar-Butura, Monguna
Western: Sha, Mundat, Karfa
Southern: Richa, Mangar

Names and locations

Below is a comprehensive list of Ron language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).

class="wikitable sortable" \| style="font-size: 75%;" \| ! Language !! Cluster !! Dialects !! Alternate spellings !! Own name for language !! Other names (based on location) !! Other names for language !! Exonym(s) !! Speakers !! Location(s)
Fyer			Fier					1,500 (1970); 10,000 (Blench 1999)	Plateau State, Mangu LGA
Karfa		Shagau	Kerifa	Duhwa	Karfa	Duhwa	Challa	800 (SIL 1973)	Plateau State, Bokkos LGA
Kulere		Tof, Richa, Kamwai: the latter includes Marahai (Marhai)		Akande (Kamwaĩ, Àkàndí (Tof), Kande (Richa)	Tof, Richa, Kamwai	Korom Ɓoye		6,500 (1925 Meek); 4,933 (1943 Ames); 8,000 (1973 SIL)	Plateau State, Bokkos LGA
Mundat		Mundat	Ron	Mundat	Mundat	Mundat			Plateau State, Bokkos LGA
Shagawu			Shagau		Anguna, Hurti, Ahurum, Ambwash, Gbwendeng, Nzuhwe (Duhwa) \| Anguna Shagau		20,000 (SIL)	Plateau State, Bokkos LGA
Tambas			Tembis					3,000 (SIL)	Plateau State, Pankshin LGA
*Run cluster*	Run	Bokkos and Daffo–Mbar-Butura are more closely related than Sha	Ron	Run			Challa, Cala, Chala, Challawa	13,120 (1934 Ames); 60,000 (1985 UBS)	Plateau State, Bokkos LGA
Run Bokkos	Run	Bokkos, Baron		Lis ma Run	Bokos		Challa, Cala
Run Daffo–Mbar-Butura	Run	Daffa, Mbar, Butura	Ron	Alis I Run	Batura	Mbar-wuh	Challa
Manguna	Run	Manguna, Hurti, Dambwash, Mahurum, Gwande, Karfa(Duhwa)	Ron	Shagau	Anguna, Hurti, Duhwa, Agbwendeng, Ambwash, Ahurum	Anguna Shagau	Challa	20,000 (SIL)	Plateau State, Bokkos LGA
Mangar	Run								Plateau State, Bokkos LGA
Sha	Run							500 (SIL); about 1,000 (1970 Jungraithmayr)	Plateau State, Bokkos LGA

==Reconstruction==

{{Infobox proto-language

| name = Proto-Ron

| familycolor = Afroasiatic

| ancestor =

| child1 =

| target = Ron languages

}}

Since the Ron languages form a diverse linkage, Ron reconstruction is not straightforward due to the lack of neat sound correspondences. There are many borrowings from neighbouring Niger-Congo Plateau languages that Ron had assimilated or been in contact with.Blench, Roger M. 2003. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Afroasiatic/Chadic/West/Ron/Reconstructing%20Ron.pdf Why reconstructing comparative Ron is so problematic]. In Wolff, Ekkehard (ed.), Topics in Chadic linguistics: papers from the 1st biennial international colloquium on the Chadic language family (Leipzig, July 5–8, 2001), 21-42. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.

Proto-Ron reconstructions by Roger Blench are as follows.

class="wikitable sortable" ! No. !! English !! Proto-Ron
1.	person	*naaf
7.	friend	**mwin
19.	name	*sum
45.	flesh	*lo
46.	head	*hay
49.	bone	*kaʃ
53.	ear	*kumu
54.	nose	**atin
57.	mouth	*fo
59.	tongue	*liʃ
61.	tooth	*haŋgor
62.	molar	*ɓukum
64.	chin	*njumut
69.	throat	*goroŋ
72.	breast (female)	*fofo
73.	chest	*cin
79.	navel	**mutuk
83.	elbow	*kukwat
91.	thigh	*for
107.	saliva, spittle	*lyal
110.	urine	*sar
190.	I	*yin
238.	crocodile	**haram
1072.	blow (mouth)	*fuɗ
1089.	call (summon)	*lahyal
1157.	fall	*fur
1218.	land	**nɗoro
1241.	meet	*tof
1249.	open (door)	*ɓwali
1276.	put	*kin

Morphology

Plurals of nouns in Ron languages are typically formed with -a- infixes.Blench, Roger. 2021. [https://www.academia.edu/46654471/The_erosion_of_number_marking_in_West_Chadic The erosion of number marking in West Chadic Roger Blench]. WOCAL, Leiden.

References

External links

[https://www.academia.edu/9598030/Comparative_Ron_wordlist Comparative Ron wordlist] by Roger Blench

Category:West Chadic languages

Category:Languages of Nigeria