Gaam language

Gaam (Gaahmg), also known as Ingessana, (Me/Mun)Tabi, Kamanidi, or Mamedja/Mamidza, is an Eastern Sudanic language spoken by the Ingessana people in the Tabi Hills in eastern Sudan, near Ethiopia. It was considered an isolate within Eastern Sudanic until the other Eastern Jebel languages were discovered in the late 20th century. Dialects are Soda (Tao), Kukur (Gor), Kulang (Kulelek, Bau), Buwahg (Buek).

Gaam
Ingessana
Native toSudan
EthnicityIngessana
Native speakers
67,000 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3tbi
Glottologgaam1241[2]

Phonology

Consonants

There are 21 distinct consonant phonemes. The fricative, nasal, lateral and rhotic consonants also distinguish length.

[3]
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar
Plosives pb t̪d̪ td cɟ kɡ
Fricatives f, fː s, sː
Nasals m, mː n, nː ɲ, ɲː ŋ, ŋː
Laterals l, lː
Rhotics r, rː
Approximants w ð y

Vowels

There are six distinct vowel phonemes. All six can also occur in sequential (and thus lengthened) form but may change phonetic quality. Stirtz (2012)[4] proposes the following system:

[-round] [+round]
[-back] [+back]
[+ATR] i ə u
[-ATR] ɛ a ɔ

Tone

Gaam is a tonal language. There are three level tones, High, Mid and Low, which can be combined to form rising and falling tones. A total of nine tone melodies is possible, all of them contrastive.

gollark: <@356107472269869058> Ban LyricLy.
gollark: !!!
gollark: I would know this if it was true, which it is not.
gollark: Only hilariously outdated ones.
gollark: Well, recent bees.

References
  1. Gaam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Gaam". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Stirtz (2012:21)
  4. Stirtz (2012:33)

Bibliography
  • Stirtz, Timothy (2004). "Phonology and orthography in Gaahmg". Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages. 9: 127–144.
  • Stirtz, Timothy (2012). A grammar of Gaahmg, a Nilo-Saharan language of Sudan (Ph.D. thesis). Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. hdl:1887/18452. ISBN 978-94-6093-078-2.


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