Acheron | |
---|---|
Asheron | |
Native to | Sudan |
Region | Nuba Hills |
Native speakers | 20,000 (2006)
[1] 9,800 in home area (2006) [1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
acz |
Glottolog |
ache1245 |
ELP | Acheron |
![]() Acheron is classified as Severely Endangered by the
UNESCO
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Acheron (Asheron) is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in South Kordofan, Sudan.
Acheron derives from the Arabic word aɟɟur-uun [ sic] which means "innocent people", [2] it was later "indigenised as /acʊrʊn/" [3] and turned into /aʃərɔn/. The autoethonym in Acheron is /wɑ-rəmɛ/ for the people and /ɡə-rəmɛ/ for the language. [2]
The number of active speakers is estimated to be 9,800. [2] This number includes the community members and "diaspora speakers" in other Sudanese towns and abroad. [2]
Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | voiceless | pː | t̪ː | t | k | kː | |||
voiced | b | d̪ | d | ɟ | g | gw | |||
Fricative | voiceless | s | sː | ||||||
voiced | ð | z | |||||||
Nasal | short | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
long | mː | nː | ɲː | ŋː | |||||
Trill | r | rː | |||||||
Tap | ɽ | ||||||||
Approximant | short | l | j | w | |||||
long | lː | wː |
Norton (2000) calls / s/ and / k/ "stiff cord" segments, saying they are always voiceless, with other short plosives and fricatives varying in voicing. [4]
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | [+ATR] | i | u | |
[-ATR] | ɪ | ʊ | ||
Mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Norton (1995) posited 10 vowels: 5 [-ATR] / ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ ʊ/ and 5 [+ATR] / i, e, ɜ, o, u/. [6] However, Norton (2013) has 8 vowels: [-ATR] / ɪ, ɛ, ə, ɑ, ɔ, ʊ/ and [+ATR] / i u/. [2]
Acheron | |
---|---|
Asheron | |
Native to | Sudan |
Region | Nuba Hills |
Native speakers | 20,000 (2006)
[1] 9,800 in home area (2006) [1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
acz |
Glottolog |
ache1245 |
ELP | Acheron |
![]() Acheron is classified as Severely Endangered by the
UNESCO
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Acheron (Asheron) is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in South Kordofan, Sudan.
Acheron derives from the Arabic word aɟɟur-uun [ sic] which means "innocent people", [2] it was later "indigenised as /acʊrʊn/" [3] and turned into /aʃərɔn/. The autoethonym in Acheron is /wɑ-rəmɛ/ for the people and /ɡə-rəmɛ/ for the language. [2]
The number of active speakers is estimated to be 9,800. [2] This number includes the community members and "diaspora speakers" in other Sudanese towns and abroad. [2]
Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar |
Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | voiceless | pː | t̪ː | t | k | kː | |||
voiced | b | d̪ | d | ɟ | g | gw | |||
Fricative | voiceless | s | sː | ||||||
voiced | ð | z | |||||||
Nasal | short | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
long | mː | nː | ɲː | ŋː | |||||
Trill | r | rː | |||||||
Tap | ɽ | ||||||||
Approximant | short | l | j | w | |||||
long | lː | wː |
Norton (2000) calls / s/ and / k/ "stiff cord" segments, saying they are always voiceless, with other short plosives and fricatives varying in voicing. [4]
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | [+ATR] | i | u | |
[-ATR] | ɪ | ʊ | ||
Mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Norton (1995) posited 10 vowels: 5 [-ATR] / ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ ʊ/ and 5 [+ATR] / i, e, ɜ, o, u/. [6] However, Norton (2013) has 8 vowels: [-ATR] / ɪ, ɛ, ə, ɑ, ɔ, ʊ/ and [+ATR] / i u/. [2]