Editing Jalaa language

{{Short description|Extinct language of northeastern Nigeria}}
{{redirect|Jalaa}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Jalaa
|altname=Centúúm
|nativename={{lang|cet|bàsàrə̀n dà jàlààbè̩}}
|states=[[Nigeria]]
|region=Loojaa settlement in [[Balanga, Nigeria|Balanga]] Local Government Area, [[Gombe State]]
|extinct=likely by 2010
|date=
|ref=<ref name=Kleine2010>{{cite conference |title=Jalaa, the last member of an extinct language family |first=Ulrich |last=Kleinewillinghöfer |date=December 2010 |conference=Workshop Language Isolates in Africa |location=Lyon, France |postscript=;}} which in words of the author is a revised edition of {{cite book |last1=Kleinewillinghöfer |first1=Ulrich |editor1-last=Nurse |editor1-first=Derek |date=2001 |publisher=Rüdiger Köppe Verlag |location=Cologne, Germany |isbn=978-3-89645-091-3 |pages=239–271 |url=https://www.academia.edu/42860811 |chapter=Jalaa - An almost forgotten language of NE Nigeria: A language isolate |series=SUGIA Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika |title=Historical Language Contact in Africa |volume=16/17}}</ref>
|familycolor=isolate
|family=[[Language isolate]]
|iso3=cet
|glotto=cent2045
|glottorefname=Jalaa
}}
'''Jalaa''' (autonym: {{lang|cet|bàsàrə̀n dà jàlààbè̩}}), also known as '''Cèntûm''',<ref name="Blench2014">{{cite web |last=Blench |first=Roger |title=African language isolates: Circulation draft |url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Africa/General/African%20language%20isolates.pdf |page=9 |date=30 June 2014 |author-link=Roger Blench |location=Cambridge, UK}}</ref> '''Centúúm''' or '''Cen Tuum''', is an [[extinct language]] of northeastern [[Nigeria]] (Loojaa settlement in [[Balanga, Nigeria|Balanga]] Local Government Area, [[Gombe State]]), of uncertain origins, apparently a [[language isolate]]. The Jalabe (as descendants of speakers of the language are called) speak the Bwilim dialect of the [[Dikaka language]]. It is possible (but unconfirmed) that some remembered words have been retained for religious ceremonies, but in 1992 only a few elders remember words that their parents had used, and by 2010 there may not even remain any such rememberers.<ref name=Kleine2010/>

The Jalabe are said to have come to Loojaa from an area a few miles south within the [[Muri Mountains]], where they had shared a settlement with Tso and Kwa clans. (The name of this settlement, Cèntûm or Cùntûm, is used as a name for the language in some sources. Jalaa elders differ in whether they believe Jalaa or Centum/Cuntum was their original name for themselves.) Later, during the nineteenth century, the [[Dikaka language|Dikaka]] arrived in the area, fleeing attacks from the larger [[Waja languages|Waja]] to the north; the Cham intermarried with the Jalabe, and the Jalabe began to adopt the Dikaka language.

== Phonology ==
The phonology of Jalaa is as follows.<ref name="Blench2014" />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Consonants
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]/<br>[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Labial–velar consonant|Labial-velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}
|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive]]/<br>[[Affricate]]
!<small>voiceless</small>
|{{IPAlink|p}}
|{{IPAlink|t}}
|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|{{IPAlink|kp}}
|
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|<small>voiced</small>]]
|{{IPAlink|b}}
|{{IPAlink|d}}
|{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}
|{{IPAlink|g}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
|{{IPAlink|f}}
|{{IPAlink|s}}
|
|
|
|{{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|
|{{IPAlink|l}}
|{{IPAlink|j}}
|
|{{IPAlink|w}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|{{IPAlink|r}}
|
|
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Vowels
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPAlink|i}}
|
|{{IPAlink|u}}
|-
![[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
|{{IPAlink|ɪ}}
|
|{{IPAlink|ʊ}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPAlink|e}}
|{{IPAlink|ə}}
|{{IPAlink|o}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|{{IPAlink|ɛ}}
|
|{{IPAlink|ɔ}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPAlink|a}}
|
|}

==Morphology==
Jalaa morphology (at least in its present form) is almost identical to that of [[Dikaka language|Cham]]. The main differences in the [[noun class]] system are two of the plural suffixes: Jalaa {{lang|cet|-ta}} versus Cham {{lang|cfa|-te̩}} and (for humans) Jalaa {{lang|cet|-bo}}, {{lang|cet|-ba}} versus Cham {{lang|cfa|-b(e̩)}}.

Noun morphology is similar to that of Cham, but with some differences. Some sample singular and plural noun sets in Jalaa and Cham:<ref>{{cite book|chapter=African Language Isolates|first=Roger|last=Blench|editor1-first=Lyle|editor1-last=Campbell|title=Language Isolates|series=Routledge Language Family|publisher=Routledge|date=2017|doi=10.4324/9781315750026|isbn=9781138821057}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
!rowspan=2| Gloss
!colspan=2| Jalaa
!colspan=2| Cham
|-
! sg. !! pl.
! sg. !! pl.
|-
| mouth || {{lang|cet|bɔɔ}} || {{lang|cet|bɔɔní}} || {{lang|cfa|ɲii}} || {{lang|cfa|ɲiini}}
|-
| tree || {{lang|cet|gwììràŋ}} || {{lang|cet|gwììtɛ̀}} || {{lang|cfa|riyaŋ}} || {{lang|cfa|riitɛ}}
|-
| meat || {{lang|cet|lìbò}} || {{lang|cet|lìbòté}} || {{lang|cfa|nàm}} || {{lang|cfa|nàmtɛ}}
|-
| hole || {{lang|cet|suroŋ}} || {{lang|cet|suroŋte}} ||  || 
|-
| nose || {{lang|cet|yamər}} || {{lang|cet|yaməta}} || {{lang|cfa|ʤʊ̀r}} || {{lang|cfa|ʤʊ̀tɛ}}
|-
| leg || {{lang|cet|kobər}} || {{lang|cet|kobta}} ||  || 
|-
| fish || {{lang|cet|fui}} || {{lang|cet|fuuta}} ||  || 
|-
| wife || {{lang|cet|ʧùwì}} || {{lang|cet|ʧùùbó}} ||  || 
|-
| person || {{lang|cet|nətâ}} || {{lang|cet|nətaaba}} || {{lang|cfa|nii}} || {{lang|cfa|nə̀b}}
|-
| crocodile ||  ||  || {{lang|cfa|kùlɔŋ}} || {{lang|cfa|kùlɔ̀ŋtɛ}}
|-
| knot ||  ||  || {{lang|cfa|fúbər}} || {{lang|cfa|fúbtɛ}}
|-
| dog ||  ||  || {{lang|cfa|ʤɔil}} || {{lang|cfa|ʤɔɔtɛ}}
|-
| stranger ||  ||  || {{lang|cfa|(nii) fui}} || {{lang|cfa|fùbɛ}}
|}

== Lexicon ==
The Jalaa lexicon is also strongly influenced by Dikaka (which it has in turn influenced); some similarities are also found with the nearby [[Tso language|Tso]]. However, most of its vocabulary is extremely unusual. In Kleinewillinghöfer's words, "The major part of the lexicon seems to differ entirely from all the surrounding languages, which themselves represent different language families."

Both Dikaka and the Tso traditionally avoided using names of the dead. When those names were also words of the language, as often happened, this forced them to change the word, sometimes by replacing it with a word from a neighboring language. Kleinewillinghöfer regards this as a motivation for certain cases of borrowing from Jalaa into Dikaka.

===Numerals===

The numerals 1-6 in Jalaa are:

# {{lang|cet|násán}}
# {{lang|cet|tiyú}}, {{lang|cet|tə́só}}
# {{lang|cet|tətáá}}, {{lang|cet|bwànbí}}
# {{lang|cet|təbwár}}, {{lang|cet|ŋbár}}
# {{lang|cet|(tə)nó}}
# {{lang|cet|tənúkùn}}

Above 5, the numerals are almost identical to Dikaka. The numerals 2 through 5 are almost identical with Tso, while "one" has no clear cognates.

==See also==
{{wiktionary|Appendix:Jalaa word list}}
* [[Bung language]]
* [[Komta language]]

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Crozier |first1=David H. |last2=Blench |first2=Roger M. |last3=Hansford |first3=Keir |last4=Stanford |first4=Ronald |last5=Bendor-Samuel |first5=John T. |author2-link=Roger Blench |author5-link=John Bendor-Samuel |title=An index of Nigerian languages  |publisher=Nigerian Language Development Centre, Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, [[University of Ilorin]]; [[Summer Institute of Linguistics]] |edition=2nd |orig-date=1976 |date=1992 |location=Abuja; Dallas, TX}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Languages of Nigeria}}
{{language families}}

[[Category:Languages of Nigeria]]
[[Category:Endangered languages of Africa]]
[[Category:Endangered language isolates]]
[[Category:Language isolates of Africa]]