Berom language

Berom or Birom (Cèn Bèrom) is the most widely spoken Plateau language in Nigeria. The language is locally numerically important and is consistently spoken by Berom of all ages in rural areas. However, the Berom are shifting to Hausa in cities.[4] The small Cen and Nincut dialects may be separate languages. Approximately 1 million (2010) people speak in this language.[4]

Berom
Birom
Cèn Bèrom
Native toNigeria
RegionPlateau State
EthnicityBerom people
Native speakers
1 million (2010)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bom
Glottologbero1242[2]
Berom[3]
PersonWòrom
PeopleBerom; Birom (Du dialect)
LanguageCèn Bèrom

History

The Berom have a link to the Nok culture, a civilization that existed between 200BC to 1000AD.[5] Generally, the Berom speakers are identified to live in the core Jos Plateau and down the low plains of Kaduna State.[6]

Phonology

Consonants

Eastern Berom consists of twenty-four consonant phonemes[7]

Consonant Phonemes
Labial Labio-dental Alveolar Palato- Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio velar Glottal
Plosives Voiceless/Voiced p b t d k g kp gb
Fricatives Voiceless/Voiced f v s z ʃ h
Affricates Voiceless/Voiced tʃ dʒ
Nasals m n ɲ ŋ
Laterals l
Vibrants r
Approximants y w

In Berom, approximants are found in the last position. for example- orthographic rou is /ròw/ and vei is /vèy/.

Vowels

This language consists of seven vowel phonemes:

Vowel Phonemes
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid-High e o
Mid-Low ɛ ɔ
Low a

Berom consists of three type of tones and four glide tones (Bouquiaux 1970).[8] The glide tones are treated here as rising and falling tones. The tones are as follows:

/tút / = (to climb) for a high tone

/shɛl/ = (small) No tone mark is demonstrated for the Mid tone.

/bàsa/ = (to teach, read,) for a low tone

/nepâs/ = (new) for a falling tone

/sǎn/ = (empty) for a rising tone

References
  1. Berom at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Berom". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  4. "Berom". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  5. Mbamalu, Socrates (2017-02-16). "The Berom people of Nigeria". This is africa. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  6. Bouquiaux, L. 1970. La langue Birom (Nigéria septentrional) –phonologie, morphologie, syntaxe. Paris: Société d’édition Les Belles Lettres.  
  7. Blench, Roger M. 2006c. Plural Verb Morphology in Eastern Berom. Unpublished manuscript. Cambridge. http://www.rogerblench.info/Publications%20opening%20page.htm Accessed 2 November 2009.
  8. Bouquiaux, L. 1970. La langue Birom (Nigéria septentrional) –phonologie, morphologie, syntaxe. Paris: Société d’édition Les Belles Lettres.  
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