Nso language

Nsɔ
Lamnsɔ’
Native toCameroon
Native speakers
240,000 in Cameroon (2005)
Language codes
ISO 639-3lns
Glottologlamn1239
Nsọ
PeopleNsọ
LanguageLam-Nsọ’

Nso (Lamnso, Lamnsɔ’) is the Grassfields language of the Nso people of western Cameroon. A few may remain in Nigeria. It has ten major noun classes. The ISO 639-3 code is lns. Nso is spoken by over 100,000 people.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar		 Glottal
plain sibilant
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless (p) t (t͡s) t͡ʃ k k͡p ʔ
voiced b d (d͡z) d͡ʒ ɡ ɡ͡b
prenasal vl. ⁿt (ⁿt͡s) ᶮt͡ʃ ᵑk ᵑᵐk͡p
prenasal vd. ᵐb ⁿd (ⁿd͡z) ᶮd͡ʒ ᵑɡ ᵑᵐɡ͡b
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ (h)
voiced v ɣ
prenasal ᶬf ⁿs ᶮʃ
Tap ɾ
Approximant l j w
  • Stop sounds /b, t, d, k, ɡ/ may have affricated phonetic variants as [b͡v, t͡s, d͡z~ɖ͡ʐ, k͡f, ɡ͡v] when occurring before /ə/. Sounds /ɣ, m/ may have variants as [ɣ͡v, ᶬv] when in the same position.
  • Sounds /p/ and /h/ only occur in interjections, ideophones or loanwords.
  • /p, t, k/ may also have aspirated allophones [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] in word-initial positions.
  • Prenasal fricative sounds /ᶬf, ⁿs, ᶮʃ/ may also have allophones as prenasal affricate [ᶬp͡f, ⁿt͡s, ᶮt͡ʃ] sounds.
  • Sounds /d͡ʒ, ʃ, k, ɡ, m, ŋ/ may be labialized as [d͡ʒʷ, ʃʷ, kʷ, ɡʷ, mʷ, ŋʷ] when before a vowel, and occurring only in the first syllable.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ~ e ə ɔ ~ o
Open a
  • Vowels are lengthened as /iː, eː, əː, aː, oː, uː/.
  • Sounds /ɛ, ɔ/ may also be heard as close-mid [e, o] in free variation.
  • Vowels /i, a, u/ are heard as [ɪ, ɜ, ʊ] when before /ʔ/ or nasal sounds.

Writing System

Nso uses an orthography based on the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages (AGLC). An orthography had initially been created before being modified to follow the recommendations of the AGLC.

Nso alphabet
abcde əfghi jklmn ŋoprs tuvwy zʼ

Nso uses 23 digraphs ⟨bv, dz, gb, gh, gv, gw, jw, kf, kp, kw, mb, mf, mt, mv, nj, ns, nt, ny, ŋg, ŋk, ŋw, sh, ts⟩ and 7 trigraphs ⟨ghv, mbv, ndz, nsh, ŋgv, ŋgw, shw⟩. Long vowels are indicating by doubling the vowel ⟨aa, ee, əə, ii, oo, uu⟩. Diphthongs are noted ⟨ay, ey, əy, oy, uy, iy⟩.

The high tone is indicated with the acute accent and the low tone with the grave accent on the vowel.

Phrases

Animal names

Other nouns

Adjectives

References

  1. ↑ Nsɔ at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  3. ↑ Laura W. McGarrity and Robert Botne. "BETWEEN AGREEMENT AND CASE MARKING IN LAMNSO" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "ISO 639 code sets". www.sil.org. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  5. ↑ paul peek. "Lamnso". Flw.com. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Stephen C. (2015). A phonological sketch of Lamnso'. Yaoundé: SIL.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ↑ "Orthography and identity in Cameroon | Cameroon". www.silcam.org.
  8. ↑ Banyee 2015.

Bibliography