Jina (Zina) is an Afroasiatic language of Cameroon. The Muxule variety may be a distinct language.
| Jina | |
|---|---|
| Zina | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
Native speakers | 1,500 (2004)[1] |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jia |
| Glottolog | jina1244 |
Jina is spoken in Zina commune, located just to the south of Logone-Birni commune. Muxule is spoken in a few villages to the north of Logone-Birni (department of Logone-et-Chari, Far North Region) by 1,500 speakers. The people of Zina claim to understand Lagwan and Munjuk better than Muxule.[2]
Phonology
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labialized | |||||
| Plosive | p b | t d | c ɟ | k g | kʷ gʷ | ʔ |
| Ejective | s’ | k’ | ||||
| Implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ||||
| Fricative | f v | s z | x ɣ | xʷ ɣʷ | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||
| Approximant | w | l, r | j | |||
Jina is analysed as only having two phonemic vowels; /a/ and /ə/.[4]
References
edit- ^ Jina at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
- ^ Tourneux, Henry (October 2001). Le système consonantique des langues dites "kotoko". 1st Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Language Family (in French). Leipzig. pp. 115–135.
- ^ Tourneux, Henry (August 2000). Le système vocalique dans le groupe "kotoko". 3ème Congrès mondial de linguistique africaine (in French). Lomé. pp. 69–77.
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