Nyangatom (also Inyangatom, Donyiro, Dongiro, Idongiro) is a Nilotic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Nyangatom people. It is an oral language only, having no working orthography at present. Related languages include Toposa and Turkana, both of which have a level of mutual intelligibility; Blench (2012) counts it as a dialect of Turkana.
| Nyangatom | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Ethiopia |
| Region | Omo River region |
| Ethnicity | Nyangatom |
Native speakers | 24,000 (2007 census)[1] |
| none | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nnj |
| Glottolog | nyan1315 |
Phonology
editVowels
edit| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Near-close | ɪ | ʊ |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | a | |
- Vowel length is contrastive in Nyangatom, as in dʒík 'completely' vs. dʒíík 'always'
- Before a pause, short vowels carrying a single, simple tone are devoiced.
Consonants
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Plosive/ Affricate |
Voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k |
| Voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | |
| Fricative | s | ||||
| Flap | r | ||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | ||
Bibliography
edit- Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. 2007. "Ñaŋatom language" in Siegbert Uhlig (ed.) Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol 3. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 1131–1132.