Cipu language
Éwn malábó:Use Nigerian English Éwn malábó:Distinguish Éwn malábó:Infobox language Éwn malábó:Infobox ethnonym
Cicipu chì ìchì Kainji language àmónẹ kì dàbì Íchámú ny'ọ́gwọ́kọ́ méjì mẹ́lā kù má dẹju efú northwest Nigeria akìchì -kìdèì. ámọ́na là ádì ọ̀lamá kì Acipu, kpaì má ño dóò kì Acipawa afì Hausa.[1]
Dábì ìcha-ẹkùbo éfu Benue–Congo languages, Cicipu má nì ùkomù noun class system.[2] ì ñọ́ nì fairly complex phonology kpayì lexical kpaì grammatical tone, vowel harmony kpaì nasalisation.
ẹmẹ gbo Cicipu akìchì yé í lingua franca Hausa. Ójìle ìcha ẹkùbo máa áñọ́ kì ìchì omúné kì mẹrù má.
Classification
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]Cicipu chẹ eju olá-owo yẹ́ ì Kambari kì nì ùgbo‘mùnẹ ùgbo ì Niger–Congo languages.
The most recent published classification[3] has Cicipu as part of the Kamuku group of West Kainji. However more detailed studies[4][5] have shown this to be unlikely.
Alternative names
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]The Ethnologue used to list Cicipu as 'Western Acipa'. In Hausa, the language is referred to as Acipanci and the people as Acipawa.
Geographic distribution
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]Cicipu is spoken in Nigeria by approximately 20,000 people,[6] split between Sakaba Local Government Area, Kebbi State and Kontagora Local Government Area, Niger State.
Dialects/Varieties
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]The Acipu themselves recognise seven distinct varieties of Cicipu. The dialect names are as follows (with the corresponding Hausa names in parentheses):
- Tirisino (Karishen)
- Tidipo (Kadonho)
- Tizoriyo (Mazarko)
- Tidodimo (Kadedan)
- Tikula (Maburya)
- Ticuhun (Kakihum)
- Tikumbasi (Kumbashi)
Phonology
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]The most common syllable type in Cicipu is CV, although there are fairly strong arguments for N and CVN. A small number of noun and verb roots begin with a V syllable. Lexical tone contrasts are found in nouns e.g. káayá ‘house’ and káayà ‘bean’, but not in verbs (although grammatical tone is important for verbs).
Vowels
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]
Cicipu has an asymmetric six-vowel system. All vowels can be long or short, and all have nasalised counterparts. There are four diphthongs: Éwn malábó:IPA, Éwn malábó:IPA, Éwn malábó:IPA, and Éwn malábó:IPA.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Éwn malábó:IPA | Éwn malábó:IPA | |
| Close-mid | Éwn malábó:IPA | Éwn malábó:IPA | |
| Open-mid | Éwn malábó:IPA | ||
| Open | Éwn malábó:IPA |
Consonants
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]Consonant length is contrastive in Cicipu, e.g. yuwo 'fall' vs. yuwwo 'turn around'. Any consonant may be lengthened.
Vocabulary
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]A large number of Cicipu words are borrowings from the lingua franca Hausa. The pronunciation of many of these loanwords has changed to fit in with Cicipu phonology, in particular with respect to vowel harmony.
Writing system
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]Cicipu is not currently written, although a preliminary orthography proposal has been made, and a small number of trial books has been circulated.[8]
See also
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]Further reading
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]References
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]- ↑ Blench, Roger. "The Kamuku languages". Archived from the original on 20 ochu ekele 2015.
- ↑ McGill, Stuart (2007). "The Cipu noun class system". Journal of West African Languages. 34 (2): 51–90.
- ↑ Williamson, Kay; Blench, Roger M. (2000). Niger–Congo in African languages: an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–42.
- ↑ Éwn malábó:Cite report
- ↑ McGill, Stuart (2007). "The classification of Cicipu".
- ↑ CAPRO Research Office (1995). Kingdoms at war : an enthic [i.e. ethnic] survey of Niger, Kebbi States and FCT. Jos: CAPRO Media.
- ↑ McGill, Stuart (2014), "Cicipu", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 44 (3): 308, doi:10.1017/S002510031400022X
- ↑ McGill, Stuart (ined). Some orthographic challenges for Cicipu. West Kainji Language Workshop, Safara Motel, Kontagora, 10 -12 March 2008, pp. 2-3.
External links
[nwọ́che | nwó étéwn che]Éwn malábó:Platoid languages Éwn malábó:Languages of Nigeria