Bura language

Bura
Mya Bura or Bura-Pabir
Native toNigeria
RegionBorno State, Adamawa State, Yobe State, Gombe State
Native speakers
510,000 (2020)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bwr
Glottologbura1292
Linguasphere(-da -db -dc) 18-GBB-d (-da -db -dc)

Bura (also known as Burah, Burra, Bourrah, Bura-Pabir, Babir, Babur, Barburr, Mya Bura, Kwojeffa, Huve, Huviya) is a Chadic language spoken in North-eastern Nigeria by the Bura-Pabir people. Dialects include Pela, Bura Pela, Hill Bura, Hyil Hawul, Bura Hyilhawul, and Plain Bura. The language is closely related to Kilba, Chibok, Margi and a few other north-eastern Nigerian Languages.[citation needed]

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal
Velar Glottal
plain lateral
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
prenasal vl. ᵐp ⁿt ᵑk
prenasal vd. ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
implosive/ejc. ɓ ɗ
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡ʃ
voiced d͡z d͡ʒ
prenasal vl. ⁿt͡s ⁿt͡ʃ
prenasal vd. ⁿd͡z ⁿd͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f s ɬ ʃ x h
voiced v z ɮ ʒ ɣ
prenasal vl. ᶬf ⁿs ⁿɬ ⁿʃ ᵑx
prenasal vd. ᶬv ⁿz ⁿɮ ⁿʒ ᵑɣ
Approximant w l j
Trill r

Consonant clusters also occur among plosives/affricates, nasals, and fricatives.[2]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a

Orthography

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In the 2010 Bura-English Dictionary[3] Roger Blench proposed an orthography similar to that of Hausa includes the Latin alphabet with the addition of the letters ɓ, ɗ, ə, and ƙ. In addition, the following digraphs are used:

IPA Orthography
[ɬ] tl
[ɮ] dl
[ɣ] gh

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Bura at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Blench, Roger (2009). Bura phonology and some suggestions concerning the orthography.
  3. ^ "Roger Blench: Bura opening page". www.rogerblench.info. Retrieved 2022-08-14.

References

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