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Tera language

{{Short description|Chadic dialect cluster of northeastern Nigeria}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Tera

| region = Nigeria

| speakers = {{sigfig|101,000|3}}

| date = 2000

| ref = e18

| familycolor = Afro-Asiatic

| fam2 = Chadic

| fam3 = Biu–Mandara

| fam4 = Tera languages (A.1)

| iso3 = ttr

| glotto = tera1251

| glottorefname = Tera

| dia1 = Pidlimdi (Kurba, Hinna and Deba)

| notice = IPA

| nativename = Nyimalti

}}

Tera is a Chadic dialect cluster spoken in north-eastern Nigeria in the north and eastern parts of Gombe State and Borno State.{{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=227}} Blench (2006) believes Pidlimdi (Hinna) dialect is a separate language.Blench, 2006. [http://rogerblench.info/Language/Afroasiatic/General/AALIST.pdf The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List] (ms)

Varieties

Blench lists these language varieties as part of the Tera language cluster.{{Cite book|title=An Atlas of Nigerian Languages|last=Blench|first=Roger|publisher=Kay Williamson Educational Foundation|year=2019|edition=4th|location=Cambridge}}

  • Nyimatli
  • Pidlimdi
  • Bura Kokura

Phonology

class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
style="font-size: 90%;"

|+Consonants{{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=228}}

!colspan=2 rowspan=2|

!colspan=4| Labial

!colspan=4| Alveolar

!colspan=2 rowspan=2| Post-al.
/Palatal

!colspan=4| Velar

!colspan=2 rowspan=2| Glottal

colspan=2| plain

!colspan=2| palatal.

!colspan=2| central

!colspan=2| lateral

!colspan=2| plain

!colspan=2| labial.

colspan=2| Nasal

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|m}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|mʲ}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|n}}

|colspan=2|

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

rowspan=3| Stop{{ref|1|1}}

! plain

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|p}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|b}}

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|t}}{{ref|2|2}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|d}}{{ref|2|2}}

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|tʃ}}{{ref|2|2}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|dʒ}}{{ref|2|2}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|k}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɡ}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|kʷ}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɡʷ}}

|colspan=2|

prenasal.

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ᵐb}}

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ⁿd}}

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ᶮdʒ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ᵑɡʷ}}

|colspan=2|

implosive

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɓ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɓʲ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɗ}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɠ}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

colspan=2| Fricative

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|f}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|v}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|fʲ}} ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|vʲ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|s}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|z}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɬ}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɮ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ʒ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|x}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɣ}}

|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|xʷ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɣʷ}}

|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|h}}{{ref|3|3}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|

rowspan=2| Approximant

! plain

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|l}}

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|j}}

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|w}}

|colspan=2|

glottal.

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|jˀ}}{{ref|4|4}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

colspan=2| Trill

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|r}}

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|

:{{note|1|1}} Voiceless plosives are lightly aspirated but unreleased before another consonant.{{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=229}}

:{{note|2|2}} {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} formally had {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}} respectively as allophones but the two pairs have split; however, the alveolar plosives never precede front vowels and the postalveolar affricates rarely precede anything but front vowels.

:{{note|3|3}} {{IPA|/h/}} is a relatively new phoneme, appearing in loanwords from English and Hausa.{{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=229}}

:{{note|4|4}} {{IPA|/jˀ/}} derives from a {{IPA|/ɗʲ/}} that has lost its alveolar contact while retaining the palatal and glottal action.

Image:Tera monophthongs chart.svgs of Tera, from {{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=230}}]]

Image:Tera diphthongs chart.svgs of Tera, from {{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=231}}]]

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

|+Vowels{{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=230}}

!

! Front

! Central

! Back

Close

| {{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|iː}}

| {{IPA link|ɨ}}

| {{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|uː}}

Mid

| {{IPA link|e̞|e}} {{IPA link|e̞|eː}}

|

| {{IPA link|o̞|o}} {{IPA link|o̞|oː}}

Open

|

| {{IPA link|ä|a}} {{IPA link|ä|aː}}

|

  • The mid vowels {{IPA|/e, eː, o, oː/}} are true-mid {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|e̞}}, {{IPAplink|e̞ː}}, {{IPAplink|o̞}}, {{IPAplink|o̞ː}}]}}.
  • The open vowels {{IPA|/a, aː/}} are central {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ä}}, {{IPAplink|äː}}]}}.

Vowel length contrasts are neutralized in monosyllabic words with no coda consonants.

All vowels but {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/aː/}} are more open in closed syllables such as in {{IPA|[ɮɛp]}} ('to plait') and {{IPA|[xʊ́r]}} ('to cook soup'). {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/aː/}} tend to be fronted to {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|æ}}, {{IPAplink|æː}}]}} when following palatalized consonants.{{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=231}}

Diphthongs, which have the same length as long vowels, consist of a non-high vowel and a high vowel:

class="wikitable"
Diphthong

! Example

! Orthography

! Gloss

align=center

| {{IPA|/eu/}}

| {{IPA|/ɓeu/}}

| ɓeu

| 'sour'

align=center

| {{IPA|/oi/}}

| {{IPA|/woi/}}

|woi

| 'child'

align=center

| {{IPA|/ai/}}

| {{IPA|/ɣài/}}

|ghai

| 'town'

align=center

| {{IPA|/au/}}

| {{IPA|/ɮàu/}}

| dlau

| 'sickle'

  • Phonetically, these diphthongs are {{IPA|[e̞ʊ, o̞ɪ, ɐɪ, ɐʊ]}}.

=Tone=

Tera is a tonal language, distinguishing high, mid and low tone. Tone is not indicated orthographically since no minimal trios exist; minimal pairs can be distinguished by context.{{Harvcoltxt|Tench|2007|p=232}}

Orthography

The first publication in Tera was Labar Mbarkandu nu Yohanna Bula Ki, a translation of the Gospel of John, which established an orthographic system. In 2004, this orthographic system was revised.

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

  • {{citation

|last=Tench

|first=Paul

|year=2007

|title=Tera

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=37

|issue=1

|pages=228–234

|doi=10.1017/s0025100307002952

|doi-access=free

}}

{{refend}}

{{Languages of Nigeria}}

{{Biu–Mandara languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tera Language}}

Category:Biu-Mandara languages

Category:Languages of Nigeria