Eloyi language explained
Eloyi, or Afu (Afo) or Ajiri,[1] 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.
Classification
Armstrong (1955, 1983)[2] [3] classified Eloyi as Idomoid, but that identification was based on a single word list and Armstrong later expressed doubts.[4] Other preliminary accounts classify it as Plateau, and Blench (2008) leaves it as a separate branch of Plateau.[5]
Blench (2007) considers Eloyi to be a divergent Plateau language that has undergone Idomoid influence, rather than vice versa.
Phonology
Consonants
!! Bilabial !! Labio-
dental !! Alveolar !! Post-
alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar !! Labial-
velar !! Glottal | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | | pronounced as /ink/ | | | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
|---|
| voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | | pronounced as /ink/ | | | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
|---|
| Affricate | | | pronounced as /ink/ | | pronounced as /ink/ | | | |
|---|
| voiceless | | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | | | | pronounced as /ink/ |
|---|
| voiced | | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | | | | | |
|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | | pronounced as /ink/ | | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | | |
|---|
| Rhotic | | | pronounced as /ink//pronounced as /ink/ | | | | | |
|---|
| Approximant | | | pronounced as /ink/ | | pronounced as /ink/ | | pronounced as /ink/ | | |
|---|
- Muniru et al. (2021) classify pronounced as /link/ as post-alveolar, but pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, and pronounced as /link/ as palatal.
- Blench (2007) includes two palatal plosives, written (c) and (j), which Muniru et al. (2021) interpret as pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/, respectively. However, Muniru et al. do not find pronounced as /link/ in their wordlists.
- Muniru et al. also place pronounced as /link/ in the labial-velar column of the table but describe it as a voiceless glottal fricative. Blench (2007) does not include pronounced as /link/ in the consonant inventory.
- Muniru et al. also found instances of labialization and palatalization.
Vowels
- Muniru et al. (2021) also found pronounced as /link/ in pronounced as /[ɾǿwɛ́]/, though they state this may be due to the following pronounced as /link/. They also mention that there may be five tones: low, mid, high, rising-falling, and falling-rising.
References
- Web site: Blench . Roger . Roger Blench . 2007-09-15 . The Eloyi language of Central Nigeria and its affinities . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150420033910/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Plateau/Eloyi%20wordlist%20paper.pdf . 2015-04-20 . Draft.
- Muniru . John . Decker . Kendall D. . Danladi . Yakubu . Riepe . Christina . Abraham . Benard . Innocent . Jonah . Onoja . David . 4 . 2021 . A Sociolinguistic Profile of the Ajiri (Eloyi) [afo] Language of Nasarawa and Benue States, Nigeria ]. Journal of Language Survey Reports . 2021-035 . 2766-9327 . 2024-06-29.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Ajiri . 2024-06-29 . . Hammarström . Harald . Forkel . Robert . Haspelmath . Martin . Bank . Sebastian . 5.0.
- , citing Book: Armstrong, R. G. . Peoples of the Niger-Benue confluence . IAI . 1955 . Forde . C. D. . Ethnographic Survey of Africa . X . London . 77–89 . The Idoma-speaking peoples.
- , citing Armstrong . R. G. . 1983 . The Idomoid languages of the Benue and Cross River Valleys . Journal of West African Languages . 13 . 1 . 91–149.
- , citing Armstrong . R. G. . 1984 . The consonant system of Akpa . Nigerian Language Teacher . 5 . 2 . 29.
- Web site: Blench . Roger . Roger Blench . 2008-04-24 . 2008 . Prospecting proto-Plateau . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140407193342/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Plateau/General/Prospecting%20proto-Plateau%20Unicode.pdf . 2014-04-07 . Draft.
