Tera | |
---|---|
Nyimalti | |
Region | Nigeria |
Native speakers | 101,000 (2000) [1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
ttr |
Glottolog |
tera1251 |
Tera is a Chadic dialect cluster spoken in north-eastern Nigeria in the north and eastern parts of Gombe State and Borno State. [2] Blench (2006) believes Pidlimdi (Hinna) dialect is a separate language. [3]
Blench lists these language varieties as part of the Tera language cluster. [4]
Labial | Alveolar |
Post-al. / Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | palatal. | central | lateral | plain | labial. | ||||||||||||
Nasal | m | mʲ | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||||||
Stop 1 | plain | p | b | t 2 | d 2 | tʃ 2 | dʒ 2 | k | ɡ | kʷ | ɡʷ | ||||||
prenasal. | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡʷ | ||||||||||||
implosive | ɓ | ɓʲ | ɗ | ɠ | |||||||||||||
Fricative | f | v | vʲ | s | z | ɬ | ɮ | ʃ | ʒ | x | ɣ | xʷ | ɣʷ | h 3 | |||
Approximant | plain | l | j | w | |||||||||||||
glottal. | jˀ 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Trill | r |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː | ɨ | u uː |
Mid | e eː | o oː | |
Open | a aː |
Vowel length contrasts are neutralized in monosyllabic words with no coda consonants. [7]
All vowels but /a/ and /aː/ are more open in closed syllables such as in [ɮɛp] ('to plait') and [xʊ́r] ('to cook soup'). /a/ and /aː/ tend to be fronted to [ æ, æː when following palatalized consonants. [8]
Diphthongs, which have the same length as long vowels, consist of a non-high vowel and a high vowel: [8]
Diphthong | Example | Orthography | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
/eu/ | /ɓeu/ | ɓeu | 'sour' |
/oi/ | /woi/ | woi | 'child' |
/ai/ | /ɣài/ | ghai | 'town' |
/au/ | /ɮàu/ | dlau | 'sickle' |
Tera is a tonal language, distinguishing high, mid and low tone. Tone is not indicated orthographically since no minimal trios exist; minimal pairs can be distinguished by context. [9]
The first publication in Tera was Labar Mbarkandu nu Yohanna Bula Ki, a translation of the Gospel of John, which established an orthographic system. In 2004, this orthographic system was revised. [2]