Nizaa language

Nizaa (Nizaa pronunciation: [nɪ˦zʌː˧˨], practical orthography: Nízɑɑ̀), also known as Galim, Nyamnyam, and Suga, is an endangered Mambiloid language spoken in the Adamawa Region of northern Cameroon. Most of the language's speakers live in and around the village of Galim in the department of Faro-et-Déo. Nizaa has a complex sound system with 60 consonant phonemes, eleven tones, and a contrast between oral and nasal vowels. It is neither a head-initial nor head-final language (the head or main element of a clause does not prefer to come before or after its modifiers) and uses postpositions instead of prepositions (the adposition follows the noun it modifies). Nizaa was first extensively documented in the 1980s by Norwegian linguists Rolf Theil Endresen and Bjørghild Kjelsvik. The language is endangered, but the exact number of active speakers is unknown since the last census of speakers took place in 1985.

Infobox

Pronunciation

[nɪ˦zʌː˧˨]

Native to

Cameroon

Region

Adamawa Region

Native speakers

(10,000 cited 1985)

Language family

Niger–Congo? Atlantic–CongoVolta-CongoBenue–CongoBantoidNorthern Bantoid?MambiloidNizaa

Writing system

Latin

ISO 639-3

sgi

Glottolog

suga1248

Tables

· Phonology and orthography › Vowels

Unrounded

Nizaa vowels

Unrounded

Nizaa vowels

Rounded

Nizaa vowels

Front

Nizaa vowels

Central

Nizaa vowels

Back

Nizaa vowels

Front

Nizaa vowels

Central

Nizaa vowels

Back

unrounded

Nizaa vowels

unrounded

Nizaa vowels

rounded

Nizaa vowels

unrounded

Nizaa vowels

rounded

Nizaa vowels

ɪ ~ ɯ ⟨i⟩

Nizaa vowels

ʊ ~ ʏ ⟨u⟩

Nizaa vowels

iː ⟨ii⟩

Nizaa vowels

ɯː ⟨ʉʉ⟩

Nizaa vowels

uː ⟨uu⟩

Nizaa vowels

ĩː ⟨iiŋ⟩

Nizaa vowels

ɯ̃ː ⟨ʉʉŋ⟩

Nizaa vowels

ũː ⟨uuŋ⟩

Close-mid

Nizaa vowels

Close-mid

Nizaa vowels

e ~ ɤ ⟨e⟩

Nizaa vowels

o ~ ø ⟨o⟩

Nizaa vowels

eː ⟨ee⟩

Nizaa vowels

ɤː ⟨əə⟩

Nizaa vowels

oː ⟨oo⟩

Nizaa vowels

ɛ̃ː ⟨ɛɛŋ⟩

Nizaa vowels

(ɤ̃ː ⟨ααŋ⟩)

Nizaa vowels

ɔ̃ː ⟨ɔɔŋ⟩

Open-mid

Nizaa vowels

Open-mid

Nizaa vowels

ɛː ⟨ɛɛ⟩

Nizaa vowels

ʌː ⟨αα⟩

Nizaa vowels

ɔː ⟨ɔɔ⟩

Nizaa vowels

ʌ̃ː ⟨ααŋ⟩

Open

Nizaa vowels

Open

Nizaa vowels

a ⟨a⟩

Nizaa vowels

aː ⟨aa⟩

Nizaa vowels

ãː ⟨aaŋ⟩

Nizaa vowels
	Short oral vowels		Long oral vowels				Long nasal vowels
	Unrounded	Rounded	Front	Central	Back		Front	Central	Back
					unrounded	rounded			unrounded	rounded
Close	ɪ ~ ɯ ⟨i⟩	ʊ ~ ʏ ⟨u⟩	iː ⟨ii⟩	ɯː ⟨ʉʉ⟩		uː ⟨uu⟩	ĩː ⟨iiŋ⟩	ɯ̃ː ⟨ʉʉŋ⟩		ũː ⟨uuŋ⟩
Close-mid	e ~ ɤ ⟨e⟩	o ~ ø ⟨o⟩	eː ⟨ee⟩	ɤː ⟨əə⟩		oː ⟨oo⟩	ɛ̃ː ⟨ɛɛŋ⟩	(ɤ̃ː ⟨ααŋ⟩)		ɔ̃ː ⟨ɔɔŋ⟩
Open-mid			ɛː ⟨ɛɛ⟩	ʌː ⟨αα⟩		ɔː ⟨ɔɔ⟩		ʌ̃ː ⟨ααŋ⟩
Open	a ⟨a⟩		aː ⟨aa⟩				ãː ⟨aaŋ⟩

· Phonology and orthography › Consonants

plain

Nizaa consonants

plain

Nizaa consonants

lab.

Nizaa consonants

plain

Nizaa consonants

lab.

Nizaa consonants

plain

Nizaa consonants

lab.

Nizaa consonants

plain

Nizaa consonants

lab.

Nizaa consonants

plain

Nizaa consonants

lab.

Plosive/ Affricate

Nizaa consonants

Plosive/ Affricate

Nizaa consonants

voiceless

Nizaa consonants

p ⟨p⟩

Nizaa consonants

t ⟨t⟩

Nizaa consonants

tʷ ⟨tw⟩

Nizaa consonants

tʃ ⟨c⟩

Nizaa consonants

tʃʷ ⟨cw⟩

Nizaa consonants

k ⟨k⟩

Nizaa consonants

kʷ ⟨kw⟩

Nizaa consonants

k͡p ⟨kp⟩

Nizaa consonants

(ʔ)

Nizaa consonants

(ʔʷ)

voiced

Nizaa consonants

voiced

Nizaa consonants

b ⟨b⟩

Nizaa consonants

d ⟨d⟩

Nizaa consonants

dʷ ⟨dw⟩

Nizaa consonants

dʒ ⟨j⟩

Nizaa consonants

dʒʷ ⟨jw⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɡ ⟨g⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɡʷ ⟨gw⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩

prenasalised

Nizaa consonants

prenasalised

Nizaa consonants

ᵐb ⟨mb⟩

Nizaa consonants

ⁿd ⟨nd⟩

Nizaa consonants

ⁿdʷ ⟨ndw⟩

Nizaa consonants

ᶮdʒ ⟨nj⟩

Nizaa consonants

ᶮdʒʷ ⟨njw⟩

Nizaa consonants

ᵑɡ ⟨ŋg⟩

Nizaa consonants

ᵑɡʷ ⟨ŋgw⟩

Nizaa consonants

͡ᵑᵐɡ͡b ⟨mgb⟩

implosive

Nizaa consonants

implosive

Nizaa consonants

ɓ ⟨ɓ⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɓʷ ⟨ɓw⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɗ ⟨ɗ⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɗʷ ⟨ɗw⟩

prenasalised implosive

Nizaa consonants

prenasalised implosive

Nizaa consonants

ᵐɓ ⟨mɓ⟩

Nizaa consonants

ⁿɗ ⟨nɗ⟩

Nizaa consonants

ⁿɗʷ ⟨nɗw⟩

Nasal

Nizaa consonants

Nasal

Nizaa consonants

m ⟨m⟩

Nizaa consonants

mʷ ⟨mw⟩

Nizaa consonants

n ⟨n⟩

Nizaa consonants

nʷ ⟨nw⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɲ ⟨ny⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɲʷ ⟨nyw⟩

Approximant

Nizaa consonants

Approximant

Nizaa consonants

voiced

Nizaa consonants

l ⟨l⟩

Nizaa consonants

lʷ ⟨lw⟩

Nizaa consonants

j ⟨y⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɥ ⟨yw⟩

Nizaa consonants

w ⟨w⟩

nasalised

Nizaa consonants

nasalised

Nizaa consonants

ɰ̃ ⟨ŋ⟩

Nizaa consonants

w̃ ⟨ŋw⟩

Fricative

Nizaa consonants

Fricative

Nizaa consonants

voiceless

Nizaa consonants

f ⟨f⟩

Nizaa consonants

s ⟨s⟩

Nizaa consonants

sʷ ⟨sw⟩

Nizaa consonants

ʃ ⟨sh⟩

Nizaa consonants

ʃʷ ⟨shw⟩

Nizaa consonants

(x ⟨h⟩)

Nizaa consonants

h ⟨h⟩

voiced

Nizaa consonants

voiced

Nizaa consonants

v ⟨v⟩

Nizaa consonants

z ⟨z⟩

Nizaa consonants

zʷ ⟨zw⟩

Nizaa consonants

(ɣ ⟨gh⟩)

prenasalised

Nizaa consonants

prenasalised

Nizaa consonants

ᶬv ⟨mv⟩

Nizaa consonants

ⁿz ⟨nz⟩

Tap or Flap

Nizaa consonants

Tap or Flap

Nizaa consonants

(ⱱ̟ ~ ⱱ ⟨vb⟩)

Nizaa consonants

ɾ ⟨r⟩

Nizaa consonants

ɾʷ ⟨rw⟩

Nizaa consonants

Labial

Alveolar

Post- alveolar

Velar

Labial– velar

Glottal

plain

lab.

plain

lab.

plain

lab.

plain

lab.

plain

lab.

Plosive/ Affricate

voiceless

p ⟨p⟩

t ⟨t⟩

tʷ ⟨tw⟩

tʃ ⟨c⟩

tʃʷ ⟨cw⟩

k ⟨k⟩

kʷ ⟨kw⟩

k͡p ⟨kp⟩

(ʔ)

(ʔʷ)

voiced

b ⟨b⟩

d ⟨d⟩

dʷ ⟨dw⟩

dʒ ⟨j⟩

dʒʷ ⟨jw⟩

ɡ ⟨g⟩

ɡʷ ⟨gw⟩

ɡ͡b ⟨gb⟩

prenasalised

ᵐb ⟨mb⟩

ⁿd ⟨nd⟩

ⁿdʷ ⟨ndw⟩

ᶮdʒ ⟨nj⟩

ᶮdʒʷ ⟨njw⟩

ᵑɡ ⟨ŋg⟩

ᵑɡʷ ⟨ŋgw⟩

͡ᵑᵐɡ͡b ⟨mgb⟩

implosive

ɓ ⟨ɓ⟩

ɓʷ ⟨ɓw⟩

ɗ ⟨ɗ⟩

ɗʷ ⟨ɗw⟩

prenasalised implosive

ᵐɓ ⟨mɓ⟩

ⁿɗ ⟨nɗ⟩

ⁿɗʷ ⟨nɗw⟩

Nasal

m ⟨m⟩

mʷ ⟨mw⟩

n ⟨n⟩

nʷ ⟨nw⟩

ɲ ⟨ny⟩

ɲʷ ⟨nyw⟩

Approximant

voiced

l ⟨l⟩

lʷ ⟨lw⟩

j ⟨y⟩

ɥ ⟨yw⟩

w ⟨w⟩

nasalised

ɰ̃ ⟨ŋ⟩

w̃ ⟨ŋw⟩

Fricative

voiceless

f ⟨f⟩

s ⟨s⟩

sʷ ⟨sw⟩

ʃ ⟨sh⟩

ʃʷ ⟨shw⟩

(x ⟨h⟩)

h ⟨h⟩

voiced

v ⟨v⟩

z ⟨z⟩

zʷ ⟨zw⟩

(ɣ ⟨gh⟩)

prenasalised

ᶬv ⟨mv⟩

ⁿz ⟨nz⟩

Tap or Flap

(ⱱ̟ ~ ⱱ ⟨vb⟩)

ɾ ⟨r⟩

ɾʷ ⟨rw⟩

· Phonology and orthography › Tonology

Tone