Tera | |
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Nyimalti | |
Region | Nigeria |
Native speakers | 101,000 (2000)[1] |
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Dialects |
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | ttr |
Glottolog | tera1251 |
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Tera is a Chadic dialect cluster spoken in north-eastern Nigeria in the north and eastern parts of Gombe State and Borno State.[2] Blench (2006) believes Pidlimdi (Hinna) dialect is a separate language.[3]
Blench lists these language varieties as part of the Tera language cluster.[4]
Labial | Alveolar | Post-al. /Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | palatal. | central | lateral | plain | labial. | ||||||||||||
Nasal | m | mʲ | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||||||
Stop1 | plain | p | b | t2 | d2 | tʃ2 | dʒ2 | k | ɡ | kʷ | ɡʷ | ||||||
prenasal. | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡʷ | ||||||||||||
implosive | ɓ | ɓʲ | ɗ | ɠ | |||||||||||||
Fricative | f | v | vʲ | s | z | ɬ | ɮ | ʃ | ʒ | x | ɣ | xʷ | ɣʷ | h3 | |||
Approximant | plain | l | j | w | |||||||||||||
glottal. | jˀ4 | ||||||||||||||||
Trill | r |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː | ɨ | u uː |
Mid | e eː | o oː | |
Open | a aː |
Vowel length contrasts are neutralized in monosyllabic words with no coda consonants.[7]
All vowels but /a/ and /aː/ are more open in closed syllables such as in [ɮɛp] ('to plait') and [xʊ́r] ('to cook soup'). /a/ and /aː/ tend to be fronted to [æ, æː] when following palatalized consonants.[8]
Diphthongs, which have the same length as long vowels, consist of a non-high vowel and a high vowel:[8]
Diphthong | Example | Orthography | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
/eu/ | /ɓeu/ | ɓeu | 'sour' |
/oi/ | /woi/ | woi | 'child' |
/ai/ | /ɣài/ | ghai | 'town' |
/au/ | /ɮàu/ | dlau | 'sickle' |
Tera is a tonal language, distinguishing high, mid and low tone. Tone is not indicated orthographically since no minimal trios exist; minimal pairs can be distinguished by context.[9]
The first publication in Tera was Labar Mbarkandu nu Yohanna Bula Ki, a translation of the Gospel of John, which established an orthographic system. In 2004, this orthographic system was revised.[2]
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Official languages |
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National languages |
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Recognised languages |
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Indigenous languages |
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Sign languages |
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Immigrant languages |
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Scripts |
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Tera (A.1) |
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Bura–Higi |
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Wandala (Mandara) (A.4) |
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Mafa (A.5) |
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Daba (A.7) |
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Bata (Gbwata) (A.8) |
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Mandage (Kotoko) (B.1) |
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East– Central |
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Others |
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Italics indicate extinct languages. See also: Chadic languages |
Authority control databases: National ![]() |
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