Social:Acheron language

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Short description: Niger–Congo language of Kordofan, Sudan


Acheron
Asheron
Pronunciation/ɡə-rəmɛ/
Native toSudan
RegionNuba Hills
Native speakers
20,000 (2006)[1]
9,800 in home area (2006)[1]
Niger–Congo
Dialects
  • Gathuk
  • Gandok
  • Garong
Language codes
ISO 639-3acz
Glottologache1245[2]
Acheron is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Acheron (Asheron) is a language in the Talodi family spoken in South Kordofan, Sudan.

Acheron derives from the Arabic word aɟɟur-uun [sic] which means "innocent people",[3] it was later "indigenised as /acʊrʊn/"[4] and turned into /aʃərɔn/. The autoethonym in Acheron is /wɑ-rəmɛ/ for the people and /ɡə-rəmɛ/ for the language.[3]

The number of active speakers is estimated to be 9,800.[3] This number includes the community members and "diaspora speakers" in other Sudanese towns and abroad.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants[5]
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar
Plosive voiceless pː t̪ː t k kː
voiced b d̪ d ɟ g gw
Fricative voiceless s sː
voiced ð z
Nasal short m n ɲ ŋ
long mː nː ɲː ŋː
Trill r rː
Tap ɽ
Approximant short l j w
long lː wː

Norton (2000) calls /s/ and /k/ "stiff cord" segments, saying they are always voiceless, with other short plosives and fricatives varying in voicing.[5]

Vowels

Vowels[6]
Front Central Back
Close [+ATR] i u
[-ATR] ɪ ʊ
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Open a

Norton (1995) posited 10 vowels: 5 [-ATR] /ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ ʊ/ and 5 [+ATR] /i, e, ɜ, o, u/.[7] However, Norton (2013) has 8 vowels: [-ATR] /ɪ, ɛ, ə, ɑ, ɔ, ʊ/ and [+ATR] /i u/.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Acheron at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds (2017). "Acheron". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/ache1245. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Norton 2013, p. 195.
  4. ↑ Stevenson 1956, p. 102, quoted in Norton 2013, p. 195
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Norton 2000, p. 24.
  6. ↑ Norton 2013, pp. 208.
  7. ↑ Norton 1995, quoted in Norton 2013, p. 195

References

  • Norton, Russell (1995). Variation and change in the phonology of Asheron (MA thesis). University of Essex.
  • Norton, Russell (2000). "The noun classes of Asheron". Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages 8: 23–55. https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/35940. 
  • Norton, Russell (2013). "The Acheron vowel system: a participatory approach". in Blench, Roger. Nuba Mountain Language Studies. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 195–217. ISBN 978-3-89645-427-0. https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/67418. 
  • Stevenson, Roland C. (1956). "A survey of the phonetics and grammatical structure of the Nuba Mountain languages, with particular reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimang". Afrika und Übersee 40: 73-84, 93-115. 

Further reading

Template:Languages of Sudan Template:Kordofanian languages




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