Tegem language

Niger–Congo language of Kordofan, Sudan
Tegem
Jebel Tekeim
RegionNuba Hills, Sudan
EthnicityLafofa
Native speakers
(5,100 all Lalofa cited 1984)[1]
Language family
Language codes
ISO 639-3(included in Lafofa [laf])
Glottologjebe1249

Tegem, also Jebel Tekeim, is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Kordofan, Sudan. It is sometimes considered a dialect of Lafofa, which is poorly attested.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t̪ ʈ c k
voiced b d̪ ɟ ɡ
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd̪ ᶯɖ ᶮɟ ᵑɡ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Rhotic r ɽ
Sonorant w l ɫ j h
  • Labialization [ʷ] is also said to occur among sounds.
  • The following sounds can occur as geminated, [bː, mː, t̪ː, d̪ː, rː, lː, ɫː, ʈː, cː, ɟː, kː].[2]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
ɪ ʊ
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ʌ ɔ
Open æ a ɑ
  • Vowel length is also distinctive.

References

  1. ^ Tegem at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Sosal Altayeb Mohammed Ali, Ahmed (2018). A Phonological Study of the Tegem Language. University of Cape Town.

Sources

  • Roger Blench, 2011 (ms), "Does Kordofanian constitute a group and if not, where does its languages fit into Niger-Congo?"[1]


Stub icon

This article about Kordofanian languages is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e