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Akum language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Akum
Native toCameroon, Nigeria
RegionTaraba State
EthnicityAnyar
Native speakers
1,400 in Cameroon (2002)[1]
few in Nigeria (no date), three villages[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3aku
Glottologakum1238
ELPAkum

Akum is a Plateau language of Cameroon and across the border in Nigeria.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Akum Consonants[2]
Labial Coronal Palatal Velar Labio-velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋm
Plosive b t d c ɟ k g kp gb
Prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ᶮɟ ᵑɡ
Affricate ts dz
Fricative f s ʃ
Trill r
Approximant l j w

Many consonants also have palatalized and labialized variants, but due to a lack of documentation it's unknown whether or not these are phonemic. Only /r/, /b/, /g/, /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/ occur at the end of a syllable, and /ŋ/ only occurs in this position.

Vowels

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Akum Vowels[2]
Front Central Back
High-mid ɪ ʊ
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Low a

/ə/ and /ɛ/ may be allophones.

Tone

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Akum has three tones: high, mid, and low.

References

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  1. ^ a b Akum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Kempf, Viktoria; Prischnegg, Tamara (2020). "A sketch of Akum (Southern Jukunoid)". Afrika und Übersee. 93: 299–326. doi:10.15460/auue.2020.93.1.215. S2CID 239965594.