Vagla language

{{Infobox language

|name=Vagla

|region=Ghana

|speakers=14,000

|date=2003

|ref=e18

|speakers2=(may include speakers of Siti)

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Gur

|fam4=Southern

|fam5=Gurunsi

|fam6=Western

|iso3=vag

|glotto=vagl1239

|glottoname=Vagla

}}

Vagla is a Gurunsi (Gur) language of Ghana with about 14,000 speakers. It is spoken in a number of communities around the western area of Northern Region, Ghana. Such communities includes: Bole, Sawla, Tuna, Soma, Gentilpe, and Nakwabi. The people who speak this language are known as Vaglas, one of the indigenous tribes around that part of the Northern Region, which were brought under the Gonja local administration system "Gonjaland" by British Colonial Rulers under their Centralised System of Governance.

Phonology

=Consonants=

class=wikitable style=text-align:center \|+Consonants{{sfn\|Blench\|2003\|p=18}} ! colspan=2\| !! Labial !! Alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar !! Labial- velar !! Glottal
rowspan=2\|Plosive	voiceless \| {{IPAlink\|p}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|t}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|c}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|k}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|kp}} \|\|
voiced \| {{IPAlink\|b}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|d}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|ɟ}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|g}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|gb}} \|\|
colspan=2\|Nasal \| {{IPAlink\|m}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|n}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|ɲ}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|ŋ}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|ŋm}} \|\|
rowspan=2\|Fricative	voiceless \| {{IPAlink\|f}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|s}} \|\| \|\| \|\| \|\| {{IPAlink\|h}}
voiced \| {{IPAlink\|v}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|z}} \|\| \|\| \|\| \|\|
colspan=2\|Approximant \| \|\| {{IPAlink\|l}} \|\| {{IPAlink\|j}} \|\| \|\| {{IPAlink\|w}} \|\|

class=wikitable style=text-align:center

|+Consonants{{sfn|Blench|2003|p=18}}

! colspan=2| !! Labial !! Alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar !! Labial-
velar !! Glottal

rowspan=2|Plosive

voiceless

| {{IPAlink|p}} || {{IPAlink|t}} || {{IPAlink|c}} || {{IPAlink|k}} || {{IPAlink|kp}} ||

voiced

| {{IPAlink|b}} || {{IPAlink|d}} || {{IPAlink|ɟ}} || {{IPAlink|g}} || {{IPAlink|gb}} ||

colspan=2|Nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}} || {{IPAlink|n}} || {{IPAlink|ɲ}} || {{IPAlink|ŋ}} || {{IPAlink|ŋm}} ||

rowspan=2|Fricative

voiceless

| {{IPAlink|f}} || {{IPAlink|s}} || || || || {{IPAlink|h}}

voiced

| {{IPAlink|v}} || {{IPAlink|z}} || || || ||

colspan=2|Approximant

| || {{IPAlink|l}} || {{IPAlink|j}} || || {{IPAlink|w}} ||

=Vowels=

class=wikitable style=text-align:center \|+Vowels{{sfn\|Blench\|2003\|p=18}} ! !! Front !! Central !! Back
Close \| {{IPAlink\|i}} \|\| \|\| {{IPAlink\|u}}
Close-mid \| {{IPAlink\|ɪ}} \|\| \|\| {{IPAlink\|ʊ}}
Mid \| {{IPAlink\|e}} \|\| \|\| {{IPAlink\|o}}
Open-mid \| {{IPAlink\|ɛ}} \|\| ({{IPAlink\|ʌ}}) \|\| {{IPAlink\|ɔ}}
Open \| \|\| {{IPAlink\|a}} \|\|

class=wikitable style=text-align:center

|+Vowels{{sfn|Blench|2003|p=18}}

! !! Front !! Central !! Back

| {{IPAlink|i}} || || {{IPAlink|u}}

Close-mid

| {{IPAlink|ɪ}} || || {{IPAlink|ʊ}}

Mid

| {{IPAlink|e}} || || {{IPAlink|o}}

Open-mid

| {{IPAlink|ɛ}} || ({{IPAlink|ʌ}}) || {{IPAlink|ɔ}}

Open

| || {{IPAlink|a}} ||

Blench uses {{IPAslink|ʌ}}, which is described as a -ATR counterpart of {{IPAslink|a}}.{{harvnb|Blench|2003|p=18}}, citing {{harvnb|Crouch|Naden|1998}}.
All vowels can be long or short. Two similar vowels are not treated as a long vowel due to tone patterns.{{sfn|Blench|2003|p=19}}

=Tones=

Vagla has four tones: rising, falling, and two level tones. It also has downstep. Nasals and laterals can also carry tones.{{sfn|Blench|2003|p=19}}

Orthography

Vagla uses {{grapheme|i}} to represent both {{IPAslink|i}} and {{IPAslink|ɪ}}, and it uses {{grapheme|u}} to represent {{IPAslink|u}} and {{IPAslink|ʊ}}.{{sfn|Blench|2003|p=19}}

Nasalization is represented by a following {{grapheme|h}}, e.g., {{lang|vag|sɛɛ}} {{gloss|to agree}} and {{lang|vag|sɛɛh}} {{gloss|to carve}}.{{sfn|Blench|2003|p=19}}

Notes

References

{{cite journal |last=Blench |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Blench |journal=Cahiers Voltaïques |volume=6 |year=2003 |pages=17–31 |title=Plural verb morphology in Vagla |url=https://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/Gur/Vagla%20plural%20verbs.pdf |access-date=2024-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420033942/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/Gur/Vagla%20plural%20verbs.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-20 |url-status=live}}
{{cite journal |last1=Crouch |first1=Marjory |first2=Anthony |last2=Naden |year=1998 |journal=Gur Papers |issue=Special issue I |location=Bayreuth |publisher=University of Bayreuth |title=A semantically-based grammar of Vagla |oclc=174505065}}