Cerma language

Gur language of Burkina Faso

Cerma
Gouin
Kirma
RegionBurkina Faso, a few in Ivory Coast
Native speakers
53,600 (2009)[1]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Language codes
ISO 639-3cme
Glottologcerm1238

Cerma (Kirma) is a Gur language of Burkina Faso. It is spoken by the Gouin people (sometimes called Ciramba or Gouin (Gwe, Gwen)).

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants[2]
Labial Dental Palatal Dorsal/
Laryngeal		 Labial-
velar
Plosive/Affricate voiceless p t̪ c k kp
voiced b d̪ ɟ g gb
Nasal m n̪
Continuant voiceless f s̪ h
voiced v (z̪) j w
Lateral l̪
Trill r̪
Archiphoneme N
  • Although /w/ is phonetically a labial-velar consonant, Lauber includes it in the dorsal/laryngeal column because its distribution is more like /k/ or /h/ than the labials or labial-velars.[2]
  • Lauber excludes /l̪/, /r̪/, and //N// from the continuant section because their distributions are different.[2]
  • /l̪/ is nasalized [l̃] "in a nasal context" and a voiceless alveolar lateral [l̥] at the end of an utterance.[3]
  • /r̪/ is a nasal tap [ɾ̪̃] "in a nasal context" and a voiceless tap [ɾ̥] at the end of an utterance.[3]
  • The archiphoneme //N// has the following allophones:[4]
  • /Nj/ also becomes [ɲ].[4]
  • Hürlimann and Pike (1985) note that the palatals are affricates, using the symbols ⟨č⟩ and ⟨j⟩.[5]

Vowels

Vowels[6]
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
  • Lauber treats nasalization as a feature of the syllable, not the vowel.[2]
  • In closed syllables, /i, u/ become near-close [ɪ, ʊ].[7]
  • In the last syllable of the nuclear element of the phonological word before /r/, /e, ɔ, o/ are lengthened [eː, ɔː, oː].[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Cerma at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b c d Lauber 2006, p. 23.
  3. ^ a b Lauber 2006, p. 22.
  4. ^ a b Lauber 2006, p. 12.
  5. ^ Hürlimann & Pike 1985, p. 60.
  6. ^ Lauber 2006, p. 26.
  7. ^ Lauber 2006, p. 24, 26.
  8. ^ Lauber 2006, p. 24-26.

References

  • Lauber, Ed (November 2006) [1980]. Weber, Maya; Hürlimann, Ruth; Karama, Daniel (eds.). Ébauche d'une description de la phonologie du cerma (PDF) (Report) (in French). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  • Hürlimann, Ruth; Pike, Eunice V. (1985). "A note on tone and stress in Cerman". Journal of West African Languages. 15 (2): 56–60. Archived from the original on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.


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