Izere language

Izere is a dialect continuum of Plateau languages in Nigeria. According to Blench (2008), it is four languages, though Ethnologue does not distinguish NW and NE Izere. The Cen and Ganang varieties are spoken by only 2000 each. Cen has added Berom noun-class prefixes and consonant alternation to an Izere base.

Izere
Afusare
Izarek
Native toNigeria
RegionKaduna State, Bauchi State, Plateau
Native speakers
500,000 (2006–2016)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
izr – NE & NW Izere
cen – Cèn (Chen)
gne – Ganàng (Gashish)
GlottologNone
izer1242  Izeric, incl. Firan

Dialects

Blench (2019) lists the following Izere dialects.[2]

  • Fobur
  • Northeastern (Federe)
  • Southern (Foron)
  • Ichèn
  • Faishang
  • Ganang

Phonology

The Izere phonetic inventory includes 29 consonants and seven vowels and distinguishes three tone levels; two additional contour tones appear only rarely, in loanwords and due to onomatopoeia.[3]

Consonants

The consonant phonemes of Izere are shown in the following table.

Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Palato-alveolar Palatal Velar Labial–velar Glottal
Stop p  b t  d c  ɟ k  ɡ k͡p  ɡ͡b
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋ͡m
Trill (r)
Fricative f  v s  z ʃ  ʒ h
Affricate ts
Approximant j, ɥ w
Lateral l

Vowels

The vowel phonemes of Izere are shown in the following table.

Vowel phonemes
FrontBack
Close iu
Close-mid eo
Open-mid ɛ
Open a

Tonemes

There are three level (L, M & H) and two contour tonemes (LM & HL) in Izere; the latter two are found only in loanwords and onomatopoeia.

References
  1. NE & NW Izere at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Cèn (Chen) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Ganàng (Gashish) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  3. Blench, Roger; Kaze, Bitrus. Dictionary of the Izere language.
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