Ntcham, or Basari, is a language of the Gurma people in Togo and Ghana. Akaselem (Tchamba) is frequently listed as a separate language.
| Ntcham | |
|---|---|
| Basari | |
| Native to | Togo, Ghana |
| Ethnicity | Gurma |
Native speakers | 390,000 (2004–2013)[1] |
| Latin (Basari alphabet) Basari Braille | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:bud – Ntchamaks – Akaselem |
| Glottolog | ntch1241 |
Phonology
editThe phonology used by Chanard and Hartell is given below. Abbott and Cox (1966) had a similar phonology, though the non labial-velar voiceless plosives were analyzed as aspirated, and vowel length was not distinguished.[2] Badie (1995) analyzes /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/ as /c/ and /ɟ/ and also includes phonemic /ɱ/, vowel lengths, and nasalized vowels.[3]
Consonants
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/Affricate | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | kp |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | g | gb | |
| Fricative | f | s | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋm | |
| Trill | r | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||
Vowels
edit| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | eː | oː |
| Open-mid | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Tones
editNtcham also has high, low, and mid tones.[4]
Writing System
edit| Majuscules | A | B | C | D | EE | F | G | GB | I | J | K | KP | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minuscules | a | b | c | d | ee | f | g | gb | i | j | k | kp | l |
| Majuscules | M | N | NY | Ŋ | ŊM | OO | Ɔ | P | S | T | U | W | Y |
| Minuscules | m | n | ny | ŋ | ŋm | oo | ɔ | p | s | t | u | w | y |
Long vowels are indicated by doubling the letter ‹aa, ii, ɔɔ, uu› and two vowels are always long ‹ee, oo›. The tones are represented by acute accents for high tone and grave accents for low tone, on the vowels and the consonants m, n, b, l : ‹ḿ, ń, b́, ĺ›, ‹m̀, ǹ, b̀, l̀›.
References
edit- ^ Ntcham at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Akaselem at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ Green, Christopher; Moran, Steven (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Ntcham sound inventory (GM)". PHOIBLE. 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 2024-09-24., citing Abbott, Mary; Cox, Monica (1966). Collected field reports on the phonology of Basari. Univeristy of Ghana.
- ^ Green, Christopher; Moran, Steven (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Ntcham sound inventory (GM)". PHOIBLE. 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 2024-09-24., citing Badie, Manglibè Joseph (1995). Contribution a une etude morphosyntaxique du N'cam (PhD thesis). University of Paris VII.
- ^ a b c Chanard, Christian; Hartell, Rhonda L. (2019). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel (eds.). "Ntcham sound inventory (AA)". PHOIBLE. 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
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