Kalabari language

Last updated
Kalabari
Ibani–Kalabari–Kirike
Native to Nigeria
Region Rivers State
Ethnicity Kalabari, Ibani
Native speakers
(570,000 cited 1989–1995) [1]
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Kalabari
  • Ibani (Bonny)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
ijn  – Kalabari
iby  – Ibani
okr  – Kirike
Glottolog kaki1246
ELP Kalabari
  Kirike

Kalabari is an Ijo language of Nigeria spoken in Rivers State and Bayelsa State by the Awome people. [2] Its three dialects are mutually intelligible.[ citation needed ] The Kalabari dialect (Kalabari proper) is one of the best-documented varieties of Ijo, and as such is frequently used as the prime example of Ijo in linguistic literature.

Contents

As of 2005, the language, "spoken by 258,000 people, [was] endangered largely because of the massive relocation that has taken place in the area due to the development of Nigeria's oil industry in the Port Harcourt region." [3]

Berbice Creole Dutch, a recently extinct Dutch Creole formerly spoken in Eastern Guyana, was spoken by descendants of Kalabari speakers. The African element in Berbice Dutch is predominantly Kalabari in origin. [4]

Kalabari-language words have been proposed for some modern technical terms. [5]

Dialects

Kalabari is spoken south of Port Harcourt.

Ibani is spoken southeast of Port Harcourt, in the Bonny local government area and in Opobo.

Kirike is spoken in Port Harcourt and the local government areas of Okrika and Ogu–Bolo.

Phonology

Consonants [6] [7] [8]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labiovelar Labial–velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k kʷ ⟨kw⟩ kp ⟨kp⟩
voiced b d ɡ ⟨g⟩ ɡʷ ⟨gw⟩ ɡb ⟨gb⟩
Implosive ɓ ⟨ḅ⟩ ɗ [a] ⟨ḍ⟩
Nasal m n ɲ [b] / j̃ [a] ⟨ny⟩ ŋ [a] ⟨ñ⟩ ŋʷ [b] / w̃ [a] ⟨nw⟩
Affricate voiceless tʃ ⟨ch⟩
voiced dʒ ⟨j⟩
Fricative voiceless f s h ~ ɦ [c] ⟨h⟩
voiced v z
Approximant l j ⟨y⟩ w
Trill r
  1. 1 2 3 4 Specific to Kirike
  2. 1 2 Specific to Ibani
  3. ↑ Harry (2003) notes orthographic ⟨h⟩ as [ɦ], while Ngulube (2011a) & Ngulube (2011b) only uses [h].

The phonetic value of orthographic ⟨gh⟩ in Ibani is unclear. Ngulube (2011a) places the symbol for the voiced velar fricative ⟨ɣ⟩ (typically what ⟨gh⟩ would signify) in the glottal plosive cell of the consonant chart, but in the phonetic values table below it writes only [ɡh]. This is presumably the same sound, but is not explicitly stated; neither the place nor manner of articulation are obvious given this oddity. Harry (2003) shows neither a glottal plosive nor a velar fricative in the JIPA publication.

Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Near-close ɪ ⟨ị⟩ ʊ ⟨ụ⟩
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ⟨ẹ⟩ ɔ ⟨ọ⟩
Open a

Writing system

Ibani alphabet [9]
abḅdeẹfggbghgwhiịjkkpkwlmnnwnyoọprstuụvwyz
Kirike alphabet [10]
abḅchdḍeẹfggbgwhiịjkkpkwlmnñnwnyoọprstuụvwyz

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kalabari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Ibani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kirike at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "Kalahari Bibi: Introducing The Kalabari Language" . Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  3. ↑ "2006 Funded Projects". Endangered Language Fund. Archived from the original on 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  4. ↑ "Ijoid languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  5. ↑ Iyalla-Amadi, Priye E. (March 2012). "Lexicological Development of Kalabari Language in the Age of Technology: A Comparative Study of French and Kalabari" (PDF). The Journal of Pan African Studies. 5 (1): 154–163. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  6. ↑ Harry, Otelemate G. (June 2003), "Kalabari-Ijo: Illustrations of the IPA", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 113–120, doi:10.1017/S002510030300121X
  7. ↑ Ngulube 2011a, p. 78.
  8. ↑ Ngulube 2011b, p. 106.
  9. ↑ Ngulube 2011a, p. 74.
  10. ↑ Ngulube 2011b, p. 103.

Works cited


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