Kpan language

Not to be confused with Kpan dialect (Mali).

Kpan
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Taraba State
Native speakers	(11,000 cited 2000) [1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Jukunoid Central Kpan–Icen Kpan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kpk
Glottolog	kpan1246
ELP	Kpan

Kpan is a Jukunoid language ^[2] of Taraba State, Nigeria. There are several dialects.

Ethnologue (22nd ed.) lists Gayan, Gindin Dutse, Kato Bagha, Likam, Suntai, and Wukari villages, which are distributed in Sardauna, Takum, and Wukari LGAs.

Phonology

Kpan has the following phonology ^[3]

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal (alveolar)	Velar	Labiovelar
Stop	p, b, ᵐb	t, d, ⁿd		k, g, ᵑɡ	kʷ, gʷ
Affricate		t͡s, d͡z
Fricative	f, v	s, z	ʃ, ʒ	x, ɣ
Trill		r
Aproximant			j	w

Vowels

	Front	Middle	Back
High	i		u
High Mid	e		o
Low		a

1. Vowels can be nasalized, turning preceding pre nasalized stops in nasals
2. There is no stress
3. The syllable structure is (C)(C)V of which the second consonat can be /ʃ, ʒ, j, k, g, w/, [ŋ]
4. There are 3 level tones

References

1. Kpan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Kpan". Glottolog 3.0 . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. "LAPSyD - Lyon-Albuquerque Phonological Systems Database". lapsyd.huma-num.fr. Retrieved 2025-12-20.