Margi language

Margi
Native to Nigeria
Region Borno State, Adamawa State, Yobe, Gombe State
Native speakers
 160,000 (2006)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mrt
Glottolog marg1265[2]
Ethnic territories of the Marghi-speaking people in Nigeria (pinkish red)

Margi, also known as Marghi and Marghi Central, is a Chadic language spoken in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad. It is perhaps the best described of the Biu–Mandara branch of that family. Marghi South and Putai are closely related and sometimes considered dialects of Margi.[1]

Phonology

Vowels

Margi is noted for having a vertical vowel system, with only two vowels, /ɨ/ and /a/, in native vocabulary. (Loan words also distinguish /ɛ/ and /o/.)

Consonants

Margi has a large consonant inventory, with a number of labialised consonants and unusual phones such as a labiodental flap. Hoffmann (1963) describes 84 consonantal phonemes, an enormous number compared to that of most languages, equivalent to that of Ubykh as the largest inventory of any language without clicks. However, Hoffmann's list of consonants includes all onsets in the language. Many of them have since, by other researchers, been analysed as sequences, such as /pt/ and /bz/.[3] There are 66 consonants that remain if labialisation is counted separately, 54 if it is interpreted as a /Cw/ sequence.

Consonants
LabialDentalAlveolarLateralPost-
alveolar		PalatalVelarLabio-
velar		Glottal
Nasal m mʷnɲŋŋʷ
Glottalized ɓ̰ ɓ̰ʷɗ̰j̰w̰
Prenasalized mpnt ntʷnts ntsʷntʃɲcŋkŋkʷ
mb mbʷndndzndʒɲɟŋɡŋɡʷ
Oral
occlusive		 p pʷt tʷtstʃckkʷʔ
b bʷddzdʒɟɡɡʷ
Fricative f fʷs sʷɬ ɬʷʃ[ç]xʍ
v vʷzɮʒ[ʝ]ɣ
Approximant ljw
Vibrant ⱱr

[ç] and [ʝ] are palatalised allophones of /x/ and /ɣ/, the latter of which is closer to an approximant [ɰ].[4] The closely related language Bura is similar but has a palatalised lateral series as well. /ⱱ/ is used in mimesis rather than in lexical vocabulary. The glottalised consonants /ɓ̰ ɓ̰ʷ ɗ̰/ have been described as either creaky voiced or implosive; according to Maddieson, they are evidently both, as in Hausa.[5]

The sequences that Hoffmann included in his consonant inventory are all labial–coronal:

ps [fs], pɬ, pç [fç], pt, pts, ptʃ, mpt, mpts, mptʃ, bz [vz], bɮ, (bʝ [vʝ]), bd, bdz, bdʒ, mbd, mbdz, mbdʒ, ɓ̰ɗ̰, mn[6]

Tone

There are two tones, high and low, with some syllables unmarked for tone.

References

  1. 1 2 Margi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Marghi Central". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 344. ISBN 0-631-19814-8. There are very few true labial–coronal consonants in the world.
  4. ↑ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 165. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
  5. ↑ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 85. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
  6. ↑ There may be a few others, such as pɬ~mɬ, mʃ~mtʃ.

Further reading

  • Hoffmann, C. 1963. A Grammar of the Margi Language. Oxford University Press for International African Institute, London.
  • Maddieson, I. 1987. "The Margi vowel system and labiocoronals." Studies in African Linguistics, vol. 18, No. 3, Dec. 1987.


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