Nichoh language
Nichoh | |
---|---|
Ñichôj | |
Pronunciation | [ɲitʃôh] |
Ethnicity | Xuni |
Language family | Ngerupic languages
|
Early forms: | Wa Ñi language
|
Official status | |
Official language in | Quaxin Xun |
CWS code | cho |
The Nichoh language is a Ngerupic dialect cluster spoken in the highland regions of Quaxin Xun.
Background
Nichoh is part of the Tuŋñi subfamily of the Mañic languages. It shares with its sister language Ndxiixun palatalization of liquids, development of labiovelars from Cw clusters, and radical cluster simplification which co-occured with the development of ballistic syllables.
Phonology
Consonants
Bilabial | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Labiovelar | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋʷ | ŋ | ||
Tenuis plosive | p | t | kʷ | k | ʔ | ||
Prenasalized plosive/affricate | ᵐb | ⁿd | ⁿd͡ʒ | ᵑgʷ | ᵑg | ||
Affricate | t͡s | t͡ʃ | |||||
Lateral affricate | t͡ɬ | ||||||
Fricative | s z | ʃ | h | ||||
Lateral fricative | ɬ | ||||||
Approximant | j | w ɰ | |||||
Tap | ɾ | ||||||
Lateral app. | l | ʎ |
Vowels
Front | Near-front | Near-back | Back | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i ĩ | u ũ | ||
Mid | e | o | ||
Open | a ã |
Tone
Vowels may have three level tones: high, mid, or low, as well as a falling contour tone.
Phonotactics
Nichoh has a (C)(C)(C)V(C) syllable structure. The consonants /w ɰ j ʔ h/ are permitted syllable-finally. A wide range of syllable initial clusters are allowed, such as zmą "ząm", jsè "four", and sñchu "kassod". Due to metathesis affecting the citation and present tense forms, they are especially common in verbs, such as ctza "to shout", tzpa "to cut", or xcha "to scream."