Ntcham language

Last updated
Ntcham
Basari
Native to Togo, Ghana
Ethnicity Gurma
Native speakers
390,000 (2004–2013) [1]
Latin (Basari alphabet)
Basari Braille
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
bud   Ntcham
aks   Akaselem
Glottolog ntch1241

Ntcham, or Basari, is a language of the Gurma people in Togo and Ghana. Akaselem (Tchamba) is frequently listed as a separate language.

Contents

Phonology

The phonology used by Chanard and Hartell is given below. Abbott and Cox (1966) had a similar phonology, though the non labial-velar voiceless plosives were analyzed as aspirated, and vowel length was not distinguished. [2] Badie (1995) analyzes /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/ as /c/ and /ɟ/ and also includes phonemic /ɱ/, vowel lengths, and nasalized vowels. [3]

Consonants

Consonants [4]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar
Plosive/Affricate voiceless p t k kp
voiced b d d͡ʒ g gb
Fricative f s
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋm
Trill r
Approximant l j w

Vowels

Vowels [4]
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid
Open-mid ɔ
Open a

Tones

Ntcham also has high, low, and mid tones. [4]

Writing System

Ntcham Alphabet
MajusculesABCDEEFGGBIJKKPL
Minusculesabcdeefggbijkkpl
MajusculesMNNYŊŊMOOƆPSTUWY
Minusculesmnnyŋŋmooɔpstuwy

Long vowels are indicated by doubling the letter ‹aa, ii, ɔɔ, uu› and two vowels are always long ‹ee, oo›. The tones are represented by acute accents for high tone and grave accents for low tone, on the vowels and the consonants m, n, b, l : ‹ḿ, ń, b́, ĺ›, ‹m̀, ǹ, b̀, l̀›.

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A back vowel is any in a class of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the highest point of the tongue is positioned relatively back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark vowels because they are perceived as sounding darker than the front vowels.

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PHOIBLE is a linguistic database accessible through its website and compiling phonological inventories from primary documents and tertiary databases into a single, easily searchable sample. The 2019 version 2.0 includes 3,020 inventories containing 3,183 segment types found in 2,186 distinct languages. It is edited by Steven Moran, Assistant Professor from the Institute of Biology at the University of Neuchâtel and Daniel McCloy, Researcher at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington.

References

  1. Ntcham at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Akaselem at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Green, Christopher; Moran, Steven (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Ntcham sound inventory (GM)". PHOIBLE. 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 2024-09-24., citing Abbott, Mary; Cox, Monica (1966). Collected field reports on the phonology of Basari. University of Ghana.
  3. Green, Christopher; Moran, Steven (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Ntcham sound inventory (GM)". PHOIBLE. 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 2024-09-24., citing Badie, Manglibè Joseph (1995). Contribution a une etude morphosyntaxique du N'cam (PhD thesis). University of Paris VII.
  4. 1 2 3 Chanard, Christian; Hartell, Rhonda L. (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Ntcham sound inventory (AA)". PHOIBLE. 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 2024-09-24.