Guruntum language

Infobox Language
name=Guruntum
nativename=gùrdùŋ
region=Nigeria
speakers=15,000 (as of|1993)
iso2=afa
iso3=grd
familycolor=Afro-Asiatic
fam2=Chadic
fam3=West
fam4=B
fam5=B.3
fam6=Guruntum

Guruntum is a Chadic language spoken by about 15,000 people (as of|1993|lc=on) in Nigeria.

Classification

Guruntum is a West Chadic language of the B subgroup.

Major dialects include Kuuku, Gayar, Mbaaru, Dooka, Gar and Karakara.

Phonology

Vowels

Guruntum contrasts long and short forms for all vowels except for IPA|/ɨ/. In addition, two nasalized vowel phonemes exist: IPA|/ũː/ IPA|/ãː/. There are two diphthongs, IPA|/ai/ and IPA|/au/.

Consonants

IPA|/r/ is realized as a flap intervocalically before back vowels; elsewhere it is a trill.

Tone

Guruntum has four tones: high, low, rising (low-high) and falling (high-low).

References

*cite journal |last=Jaggar |first=Philip J. |year=1998 |title=Guruntum (gùrdùŋ) (West Chadic-B): Linguistics notes and wordlist |journal=African Languages and Cultures |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=169–189