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Tegem language

{{Short description|Niger–Congo language of Kordofan, Sudan}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Tegem

|nativename=Jebel Tekeim

|region=Nuba Hills, Sudan

|ethnicity=Lafofa

|speakers={{sigfig|5,140|2}} all Lalofa

|date=1984

|ref=e25

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Lafofa

|iso3=none

|iso3comment=(included in {{ISO 639|laf|link=yes}} [laf])

|glotto=jebe1249

|glottorefname=Jebel Tekeim

}}

Tegem, also Jebel Tekeim, is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Kordofan, Sudan. It is sometimes considered a dialect of Lafofa, which is poorly attested.

Phonology

= Consonants =

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

! colspan="2" |

!Labial

!Dental

! colspan="2" |Alveolar

!Retroflex

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

rowspan="3" |Plosive

!voiceless

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t̪}}

| colspan="2" |

|{{IPA link|ʈ}}

|{{IPA link|c}}

|{{IPA link|k}}

|

voiced

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|d̪}}

| colspan="2" |

|

|{{IPA link|ɟ}}

|{{IPA link|ɡ}}

|

prenasal

|{{IPA link|ᵐb}}

|{{IPA link|ⁿd̪}}

| colspan="2" |

|{{IPA link|ᶯɖ}}

|{{IPA link|ᶮɟ}}

|{{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}

|

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPA link|m}}

|

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|n}}

|

|{{IPA link|ɲ}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

|

colspan="2" |Rhotic

|

|

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|r}}

|{{IPA link|ɽ}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Sonorant

|{{IPA link|w}}

|

|{{IPA link|l}}

|{{IPA link|ɫ}}

|

|{{IPA link|j}}

|

|{{IPA link|h}}

  • Labialization [ʷ] is also said to occur among sounds.
  • The following sounds can occur as geminated, [bː, mː, t̪ː, d̪ː, rː, lː, ɫː, ʈː, cː, ɟː, kː].{{Cite book |last=Sosal Altayeb Mohammed Ali |first=Ahmed |title=A Phonological Study of the Tegem Language |publisher=University of Cape Town |year=2018}}

= Vowels =

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

!

!Front

!Central

! colspan="2" |Back

rowspan="2" |Close

|{{IPA link|i}}

|

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|u}}

{{IPA link|ɪ}}

|

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ʊ}}

Close-mid

|{{IPA link|e}}

|

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|o}}

Open-mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ}}

|

|{{IPA link|ʌ}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ}}

Open

|{{IPA link|æ}}

|{{IPA link|a}}

| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɑ}}

  • Vowel length is also distinctive.

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

  • Roger Blench, 2011 (ms), "Does Kordofanian constitute a group and if not, where does its languages fit into Niger-Congo?"[http://media.leidenuniv.nl/legacy/nuba-hills-conference-paper-2011.pdf]

{{Languages of Sudan}}

{{Kordofanian languages}}

Category:Lafofa languages

{{Kordofanian-lang-stub}}