| Sukur | |
|---|---|
| Sakwun | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Adamawa State |
Native speakers | (15,000 cited 1992)1 |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | syk |
| Glottolog | suku1272 |
| ELP | Sukur |
Sukur (Adikimmu Sukur, Gemasakun, Sakul, Sugur, Sakun) is a Biu–Mandara language of Madagali LGA, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lateral | |||||
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g, kʷ | ʔ | ||
| Affricate | ts dz | tʃ dʒ | ||||
| Prenasalized | ᵐb | ⁿd, ⁿz | ⁿdʒ | ᵑg | ||
| Implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ||||
| Fricative | f v | s z | ɬ ɮ | ʃ ʒ | x ɣ | |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Approximant | (ⱱ) | r | l | j | w | |
- /ⱱ/ is only found intervocalically in ideophones.
- /ɬ/ is often pronounced [x] word-initially.
- /tʃ dʒ/ are often lenited to [ʃ ʒ] in fast speech.
- /k/ can vary to [x~kʷ~w~g].
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | (ə) | ||
| Low | a |
- /a/ can be raised to either [e] or [o].
- /ə/ is epenthetic. It is heard as [ə̥] if following an unvoiced consonant and if it does not bear any tone, and can also unpredictably be realized as [u̥] in fast speech.
Sukur also has two tones;2 high and low.
References
References
- Sukur at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- Thomas, Michael F. (2014). A Grammar of Sakun (Sukur) (PhD thesis). University of Colorado.