Jju language (original) (raw)

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Plateau language spoken in Nigeria

Jju (Tyap: Jhyuo; Hausa: Kaje, Kache) is the native language of the Bajju people of Kaduna State in central Nigeria. As of 1988, there were approximately 300,000 speakers.[1] Jju is one of the Southern Kaduna languages.[1][3] Although usually listed separately from the Tyap cluster, Jju's separation, according to Blench R.M. (2018), seems to be increasingly ethnic rather than a linguistic reality.[4]

Jju is spoken as a first language by the Bajju people in Zangon Kataf, Jema'a, Kachia, Kaura and Kaduna South Local Government Areas of Kaduna state. It is also spoken in neighbouring Atyap, Fantswam, Agworok, Ham, Adara, and other kin communities as a second or third language.[_citation needed_]

Vowels[5]

| | Front | Central | Back | | | --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Close | i | ɨ | u | | Mid | e | ə | o | | Open | | a | |

A few words also include the long vowels /aː/ and /oː/.[5]

Consonants[6]

| | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial–velar | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Nasal | plain | m | n | | ŋ | | | | | | | tense | mː | nː | | ŋː | | | | | | | | Stop | plain | p | b | t | d | | k | ɡ | k͡p | ɡ͡b | | tense | pː | bː | tː | dː | | kː | ɡː | | | | | Affricate | plain | p͡f | b͡v | t͡s | d͡z | t͡ʃ | d͡ʒ | | | | | tense | p͡fː | b͡vː | t͡sː | d͡zː | t͡ʃː | d͡ʒː | | | | | | Fricative | plain | f | s | ʃ | | | | | | | | tense | fː | sː | ʃː | | | | | | | | | Rhotic | tap | | ɾ | | | | | | | | | tense | | ɾː | | | | | | | | | | trill | | r | | | | | | | | | | Approximant | labial | w̥ | w | | ɥ̊ | ɥ | | | | | | lab. tense | w̥ː | wː | | ɥ̊ː | ɥː | | | | | | | central | | | j̊ | j | | | | | | | | tense | | | jː | | | | | | | |

• There is a tenseness distinction, which McKinney (1990) calls a fortis-lenis distinction. McKinney analyzes the fortis consonants as longer than lenis consonants.[5]
• There is allophonic palatalization before front vowels and allophonic labialization before rounded vowels.[6]
• Most consonants have a three-way contrast between plain, labialized [ʷ], and palatalized [ʲ].[7]
• Aspiration [ʰ] may phonetically occur among stops.[8]
• Tense stops /kː ɡː/ may also be heard as affricates [k͡x, ɡ͡ɣ].[9]

List of vocabulary relating to body parts.

• zwuoi - nose
• shog - cheek
• a̱kpukpa ka̱nu - lip
• zwuak - throat
• du̱ryem - tongue
• pffwa - neck
• ka̱dyet - chin
• ka̱hog - chest
• trang - beard
• ka̱wiyang - armpit
• du̱ccu - head
• a̱nyyi teeth
• tsuo mbvak - elbow
• ka̱ma - back
• du̱kkwat - back of head
• tak - leg
• ka̱hwa - stomach
• du̱kkwut - knee
• hun-tak - ankle
• gruang - shoulder
• ka̱nu - mouth
• kop - navel
• pffwo - ear
• du̱ssi - eye
• a̱cat - hair
• du̱byiang - breast
• ka̱ta̱ssi - forehead
• a̱ta̱ngbak - wrist
• ka̱ta̱ng-hurung bvak - finger
• bva̱k - hand

1. ^ a b c Jju at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
3. ^ "Bajju". Glottolog. 3.0. Retrieved 5 May 2017.[_permanent dead link_][_failed verification_]
4. ^ Blench, Roger M. (2018). "Nominal affixes and number marking in the Plateau languages". In Watters, John R. (ed.). East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Niger-Congo Comparative Studies. Vol. 1. Berlin: Language Science Press. pp. 128–129. ISBN 9783961101009. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
5. ^ a b c McKinney 1990, p. 256.
6. ^ a b McKinney 1990, p. 257.
7. ^ McKinney 1990, p. 257, citing Hyuwa, D. (1986). "Kaje orthography". Orthographies of Nigerian Languages. Vol. 3/4. Lagos, Nigeria: National Language Centre. pp. 72–99.
8. ^ McKinney 1990, p. 262.
9. ^ McKinney 1990, p. 260.

• McKinney, Norris P. (April 1990). "Temporal characteristics of fortis stops and affricates in Tyap and Jju". Journal of Phonetics. 18 (2): 255–266. doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30392-4. ISSN 0095-4470.
• Diwan Jju (Voice of Jju)