Tera language explained

Tera
Region:	Nigeria
Date:	2000
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Afro-Asiatic
Fam2:	Chadic
Fam3:	Biu–Mandara
Fam4:	Tera languages (A.1)
Iso3:	ttr
Glotto:	tera1251
Glottorefname:	Tera
Dia1:	Pidlimdi (Kurba, Hinna and Deba)
Notice:	IPA
Nativename:	Nyimalti

Tera is a Chadic dialect cluster spoken in north-eastern Nigeria in the north and eastern parts of Gombe State and Borno State. Blench (2006) believes Pidlimdi (Hinna) dialect is a separate language.^[1]

Varieties

Blench lists these language varieties as part of the Tera language cluster.^[2]

• Nyimatli
• Pidlimdi
• Bura Kokura

Phonology

+Consonants		Labial				Alveolar				Post-al. /Palatal	Velar				Glottal
plain		palatal.		central		lateral		plain		labial.
Nasal		width=20px style="border-right: 0;"		width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"		width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /mʲ/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"		width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/			width=20px style="border-right: 0;"		width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"		width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/
Stop	plain	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"	pronounced as /kʷ/	width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ɡʷ/
	prenasal.		pronounced as /ᵐb/				pronounced as /ⁿd/				pronounced as /ᶮdʒ/		pronounced as /ᵑɡ/		pronounced as /ᵑɡʷ/
	implosive		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ɓʲ/		pronounced as /ink/						pronounced as /ink/
Fricative		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /vʲ/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /xʷ/	pronounced as /ɣʷ/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-left: 0;"
Approximant	plain								pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/
	glottal.										pronounced as /jˀ/
Trill							pronounced as /ink/

Voiceless plosives are lightly aspirated but unreleased before another consonant.

pronounced as //t// and pronounced as //d// formally had pronounced as //tʃ// and pronounced as //dʒ// respectively as allophones but the two pairs have split; however, the alveolar plosives never precede front vowels and the postalveolar affricates rarely precede anything but front vowels.^[3]

pronounced as //jˀ// derives from a pronounced as //ɗʲ// that has lost its alveolar contact while retaining the palatal and glottal action.^[4] !! Front! Central! Back|-! Close| pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/| pronounced as /link/| pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/|-! Mid| pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/|| pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/|-! Open|| pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/||}

• The mid vowels pronounced as //e, eː, o, oː// are true-mid pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|e̞}}, {{IPAplink|e̞ː}}, {{IPAplink|o̞}}, {{IPAplink|o̞ː}}]/.^[5]

Diphthongs, which have the same length as long vowels, consist of a non-high vowel and a high vowel:^[8]

Orthography

The first publication in Tera was Labar Mbarkandu nu Yohanna Bula Ki, a translation of the Gospel of John, which established an orthographic system. In 2004, this orthographic system was revised.^[10]

Notes and References

1. Blench, 2006. The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List (ms)
2. Book: Blench, Roger. An Atlas of Nigerian Languages. Kay Williamson Educational Foundation. 2019. 4th. Cambridge.

3. pronounced as //h// is a relatively new phoneme, appearing in loanwords from English and Hausa.

4. [Image:Tera monophthongs chart.svg|thumb|250px|[[Monophthong]]s of Tera, from ]
5. All vowels but pronounced as //a// and pronounced as //aː// are more open in closed syllables such as in pronounced as /[ɮɛp]/ ('to plait') and pronounced as /[xʊ́r]/ ('to cook soup'). pronounced as //a// and pronounced as //aː// tend to be fronted to pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|æ}}, {{IPAplink|æː}}]/ when following palatalized consonants.
6. Vowel length contrasts are neutralized in monosyllabic words with no coda consonants.^[5]
7. • The open vowels pronounced as //a, aː// are central pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|ä}}, {{IPAplink|äː}}]/.^[5]

8. Tone

   Tera is a tonal language, distinguishing high, mid and low tone. Tone is not indicated orthographically since no minimal trios exist; minimal pairs can be distinguished by context.

9. Diphthong	Example	Orthography	Gloss
   pronounced as //eu//	pronounced as //ɓeu//	ɓeu	'sour'
   pronounced as //oi//	pronounced as //woi//	woi	'child'
   pronounced as //ai//	pronounced as //ɣài//	ghai	'town'
   pronounced as //au//	pronounced as //ɮàu//	dlau	'sickle'

   • Phonetically, these diphthongs are pronounced as /[e̞ʊ, o̞ɪ, ɐɪ, ɐʊ]/.^[8]

10. Bibliography