| Firan | |
|---|---|
| Fəràn, Fɨràn | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Plateau State |
Native speakers | 5,000 (2019)1 |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | fir |
| Glottolog | fira1238 |
| ELP | Firan |
| Fɨràn2 | |
|---|---|
| Person | yes Fɨràn |
| People | yes Bèfɨràn |
| Language | Fɨràn |
Firan or Fəràn (also Ibaas) is a Plateau language3 closely related to Izere. Most Firan speakers are multilingual in Firan, Hausa, English, Iten and sometimes Berom.4
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labialvelar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | b p | d t | ɡ k | ɡ͡b k͡p | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Sibilant affricate | dz ts | d̠ʒ t̠ʃ | ||||||
| Sibilant fricative | z s | ʃ | ||||||
| Non-sibilant fricative | ɸ | v f | ç | ɣ | h | |||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||
| Tap/flap | ɾ | |||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labialvelar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | b p | d t | ɡ k | ɡ͡b k͡p | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Sibilant affricate | ts | d̠ʒ t̠ʃ | ||||||
| Sibilant fricative | z~dz s | ʃ | ||||||
| Non-sibilant fricative | f | h | ||||||
| Approximant | j ɥ | w | ||||||
| Tap/flap | ɾ | |||||||
| Lateral approximant | l |
/Cj/ and /Cw/ sequences are permitted but are uncommon
Vowels
| Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u | ||
| Near-close | ɪ | ʊ | |||
| Close-mid | e | o | |||
| Mid | ə | ||||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɜ/ə | ɔ | ||
| Open | a/ɑ |
| Front | Near-front | Central | Near-back | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u | ||
| Close-mid | e | o | |||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |||
| Open | a |
Tones
There are 5 tones -- high, mid, low, rising and falling. The rising and falling tones are described as 'aris[ing] from sequences of level tones', but it is not clear what is meant by that, as there are no long vowels in the language.5
References
References
- Firan at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Firan". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- "A Sociolinguistic Profile of the Firan [fir] Language of Plateau State, Nigeria". SIL International. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- Roger Blench, 2024, Introduction to a preliminary dictionary of the Fɨran language of Central Nigeria
Further reading
Further reading