Tera is the language of the Central Chadian branch of the Chadian family [1] [2] , spoken in eastern Nigeria in the middle reaches of the Gongola River (in the states of Borno and Gomba ). It belongs to the Western languages [3] of the tera group [2] [4] [5] . The number of speakers is about 101,000 people (2000). Writing based on the Latin alphabet (since 2008) [1] .
| Tera | |
|---|---|
| Countries | Nigeria |
| Regions | Borno , Gombe |
| Total number of speakers | about 101,000 people [one] |
| Classification | |
| Category | African languages |
Afrasian macro family
| |
| Language Codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | - |
| ISO 639-2 | - |
| ISO 639-3 | ttr |
| WALS | |
| Ethnologue | |
| IETF | |
| Glottolog | |
Content
- 1 Classification issues
- 2 Range and abundance
- 3 Dialects
- 4 Linguistic characteristic
- 4.1 Phonetics and phonology
- 4.1.1 Vowels
- 4.1.2 Prosody
- 4.1 Phonetics and phonology
- 5 notes
- 6 Literature
- 7 References
Classification Issues
The tera language is included in the group of tera languages in the classification of the Afrasian languages of the British linguist Roger Blench [2] , in the classification published in the work of S. A. Burlak and S. A. Starostin “Comparative historical linguistics” [4] , in the classification of the Czech linguist Václav Blažek [6] , as well as in the classification of Chadian languages in the article by V. Ya. Porhomovsky, “Chadian Languages”, published in a linguistic encyclopedic dictionary in which the tera and the jara are contrasted as a part of the tera language group ga'anda and hona [5] . Thera is closest to the languages of Jara, Ga'anda, God , Khon, Nyatli , Pidlimi (Hina) , Gabin and Ngwaba .
In the classification presented in the reference book of the languages of the world Ethnologue , tera, along with jara, is classified as a Western language of the subgroup A1 of group A of the bi-mandar branch [7] .
Range and abundance
The area of the Tera language is the eastern regions of Nigeria - the territory of the southwestern part of the state of Borno and the eastern part of the state of Gombe . In the state of Borno, native speakers of the Tera language live in the Kwaa-Kusar region ( English Kwaya-Kusar ), in the state of Gombe - in the Yamaltu-Deba region (English Yamaltu-Deba ). The area of the West Chadian language Maak is adjacent to the area of the Tera language , in the east is the area of the Central Chadian language, Bura-Pabir , and in the southeast is the area of the closely related Central Chadian language, jara . In the south and south-west, the Tera range borders on one of the island areas of the Sahara language, the central Canuri , located in sparsely populated areas. In the west and north-west, the tera range borders on sparsely populated areas with the range of the West Chadian language [8] [9] .
The number of native speakers of the Tera language according to the Ethnologue reference book is about 101,000 people (2000) [1] . According to the Joshua Project website, the number of the Tera ethnic group is 144,000 [10] . Tera speakers also speak Hausa [1] . Most tera are Christians , there are also groups of Muslims and adherents of traditional beliefs.
Dialects
Thera forms a dialect bundle consisting of dialects of the Kokur drill [11] , Nimatli [12] and Pidlimi [13] . In a number of classifications, nimatli and pidlimi are considered as independent languages [2] [4] [6] .
Linguistic characteristic
Phonetics and Phonology
Vowels
Tera language vocalism is represented by the following vowel phonemes [14] :
| Front | Medium | Rear | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top | i iː | ɨ | u uː |
| Medium | e eː | o oː | |
| Lower | a aː |
All vowels with the exception of / a / and / aː / are pronounced more openly in the closed syllable position: [ɮɛp] “braid”, [xʊ́r] “cook soup”, etc. Vowels / a / and / aː / can be pronounced more openly only before a palatalized consonant [15] .
The length of diphthongs coincides with the length of long vowels, the first component of each diphthong is a vowel of a non-upper rise, the second component is a vowel of an upper rise [15] .
| Diphthongs | Examples | Transcription | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| / eu / | ɓeu | / ɓeu / | "sour" |
| / au / | dlau | / ɮàu / | "sickle" |
| / ai / | ghai | / ɣài / | "city" |
| / oi / | woi | / woi / | "child" |
Prosodion
Like all languages of the Chadian family, the tera language is tonal . Distinguish between high, medium and low tones, which can form minimal pairs. Tones are not transmitted on the letter by means of spelling , since the minimum pairs can be distinguished by context [16] .
Notes
- Sources
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Tera. A language of Nigeria . Ethnologue: Languages of the World (17th Edition) (2013). Archived on June 28, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Blench, Roger. The Afro-Asiatic Languages. Classification and Reference List ( pdf) P. 6. Cambridge: Roger Blench Website. Publications (2006). Archived May 23, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Biu-Mandara. A.1. Western Ethnologue: Languages of the World (17th Edition) (2013). Archived July 3, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ 1 2 3 Burlak S. A. , Starostin S. A. Appendix 1. Genetic classification of world languages. Afrasian (= Semitochamite) languages // Comparative-historical linguistics. - M .: Academy , 2005 .-- S. 338—341. - ISBN 5-7695-1445-0 . (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ 1 2 Porhomovsky V. Ya. Chad Languages // Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary / Editor-in-chief V.N.Yartseva . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1990 .-- 685 p. - ISBN 5-85270-031-2 .
- ↑ 1 2 Blažek, Václav. Jazyky Afriky v přehledu genetické klasifikace. Čadské jazyky (Czech) (pdf) P. 12. Masarykova univerzita . Filozofická fakulta (2009). Archived on June 7, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Biu-Mandara . Ethnologue: Languages of the World (17th Edition) (2013). Archived on June 19, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Nigeria, Map 5 . Ethnologue: Languages of the World (17th Edition) (2013). Archived on June 19, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Nigeria, Map 3 . Ethnologue: Languages of the World (17th Edition) (2013). Archived June 30, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Tera of Nigeria . Joshua Project. Archived on June 28, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Bura Kokura of Tera (English) . MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships (2009). Archived on June 28, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Nyimatli of Tera . MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships (2009). Archived on June 28, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Pidlimndi of Tera (English) . MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships (2009). (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- ↑ Tench, 2007 , p. 230.
- ↑ 1 2 Tench, 2007 , p. 231.
- ↑ Tench, 2007 , p. 232.
Literature
Tench, Paul. Tera (Eng.) // Journal of the International Phonetic Association: Journal. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007 .-- No. 37 . - P. 228-234 . - ISSN 0025-1003 .
Links
- Tera MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships (2009). Archived on June 28, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)
- OLAC resources in and about the Tera language . OLAC: Open Language Archives Community. Archived on June 28, 2013. (Retrieved June 22, 2013)