Gula Iro
| Gula Iro | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
Chad | |
| speaker | 3,500 | |
| Linguistic classification |
Niger-Congo
|
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-3 |
glj |
|
The Gula Iro language (autonym kùláál ) is a Bua language spoken by around 3,500 people (as of 1991) north and east of Lake Iro between the Bola and Salamat rivers in southern Chad .
It has five dialects:
- páṭóól , the northernmost and least understandable to the speakers of the other dialects, spoken in and around Badi ;
- pòŋààl , on the north bank of the lake, spoken in and around Boum Kabir , Boum Sarher , and Tordjigel ;
- tɩ́ààlà , spoken east and south of the lake, including Gouré , Bouni , Tormorhal, and Masidjanga ;
- tííṭààl , the most easterly, spoken in various places west of Tamba ;
- Corinthian , spoken in Tieou .
Gula Iro is very closely related to the Zan Gula and Bon Gula languages, but they are not mutually understandable.
Sounds
The consonants with their spelling are:
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Apiko - Dental | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | p | t | ṭ | k | |||
| Fricatives | f | s | H | ||||
| Liquid | w | l | y | ||||
| nasal | m | n | ñ | ŋ | |||
| Vibrants | r |
The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ɛ, ɩ, ɔ, ʋ. Nasalization (on a, e, o only) and length are both contrastive, and diphthongs can be formed. Sounds are phonemic; every vowel must have high or low notes.
grammar
The typical word order is subject-verb-object . The basic subject pronouns are: ñó ich, mó du (sg.), Á he / she / es, pʋ́ we (exclusive), én we (inclusive), í her (pl.), Ʋ́ she.
literature
- P. Boyeldieu: La formation du pluriel nominal en kulaal (Tchad): essai de systématisation des documents publiés par C. Pairault. In: Africa and overseas. 1986, n ° 69, vol. 2, pp. 209-249.
- C. Pairault: Documents du parler d'iro: kùláál du Tchad . Langues et Littérature de l'Afrique Noire V. Klincksieck, Paris 1969.