Eloyi, or Afu (Afo) or Ajiri,[2] is a Plateau language of uncertain classification. It is spoken by the Eloyi people of Agatu LGA and Otukpo LGA of Benue State and Nassarawa State in Nigeria.
| Eloyi | |
|---|---|
| Afu | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Benue State, Nassarawa State |
Native speakers | 100,000 (2021)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | afo |
| Glottolog | eloy1241 |
Classification
editArmstrong (1955, 1983)[3][4] classified Eloyi as Idomoid, but that identification was based on a single word list and Armstrong later expressed doubts.[5] Other preliminary accounts classify it as Plateau,[6] and Blench (2008) leaves it as a separate branch of Plateau.[7]
Blench (2007) considers Eloyi to be a divergent Plateau language that has undergone Idomoid influence, rather than vice versa.[8]
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | k͡p | ||||
| voiced | b | d | g | g͡b | |||||
| Affricate | d͡z | d͡ʒ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | ||||
| voiced | v | z | |||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Rhotic | r/ɾ | ||||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||||
- Muniru et al. (2021) classify /ʃ/ as post-alveolar, but /d͡ʒ/, /ɲ/, and /j/ as palatal.[9]
- Blench (2007) includes two palatal plosives, written ⟨c⟩ and ⟨j⟩,[6] which Muniru et al. (2021) interpret as /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, respectively. However, Muniru et al. do not find /t͡ʃ/ in their wordlists.[9]
- Muniru et al. also place /h/ in the labial-velar column of the table but describe it as a voiceless glottal fricative.[9] Blench (2007) does not include /h/ in the consonant inventory.[6]
- Muniru et al. also found instances of labialization and palatalization.[10]
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Notes
edit- ^ Eloyi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (eds.). "Ajiri". Glottolog. 5.0. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Blench 2007, citing Armstrong, R. G. (1955). "The Idoma-speaking peoples". In Forde, C. D. (ed.). Peoples of the Niger-Benue confluence. Ethnographic Survey of Africa. Vol. X. London: IAI. pp. 77–89.
- ^ Blench 2007, citing Armstrong, R. G. (1983). "The Idomoid languages of the Benue and Cross River Valleys". Journal of West African Languages. 13 (1): 91–149.
- ^ Blench 2007, citing Armstrong, R. G. (1984). "The consonant system of Akpa". Nigerian Language Teacher. 5 (2): 29.
- ^ a b c Blench 2007, p. 5.
- ^ Blench, Roger (24 April 2008). "Prospecting proto-Plateau" (PDF). Draft. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Blench 2007, p. 26.
- ^ a b c d Muniru et al. 2021, p. 21.
- ^ a b c Muniru et al. 2021, p. 22.
- ^ Blench 2007, p. 2.
- ^ Muniru et al. 2021, p. 23.
References
edit- Blench, Roger (15 September 2007). "The Eloyi language of Central Nigeria and its affinities" (PDF). Draft. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2015.
- Muniru, John; Decker, Kendall D.; Danladi, Yakubu; Riepe, Christina; et al. (2021). "A Sociolinguistic Profile of the Ajiri (Eloyi) [afo] Language of Nasarawa and Benue States, Nigeria". Journal of Language Survey Reports. 2021–035. ISSN 2766-9327. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
External links
edit- ComparaLex, database with Eloyi word list