| Language name: | GWARI |
| UPSID number: | 4140 |
| Alternate name(s): | GBARI, GBAGYI |
| Classification: | Niger-Kordofanian, Kwa |
| This language has | 26 segments |
| Its Frequency index is | 0.489681051 (average percentage of segments; 0.1: many very rare segments; 0.39: average; 0.7: many common segments) |
| The language has these sounds: | p t k kp b d g gb b< f h v s z m n r[ l j w i "e a "o u i~ |
| Comment: | Gwari has 3 level tones. Hyman and Magaji note that "one distinctive characteristic of all Gwari dialects is the presence of consonant + nasal clusters". An alternative would be to posit 3 nasalized vowels, but H & M's analysis is accepted here, since C + N + /a/ is realized as consonant + nasal release + oral vowel [a]. High vowels /i,u/ after C + N are phonetically nasalized, and C + N + /i/ only has a phonetic nasal consonant segment if C is bilabial or velar. A loose end is a grammatical particle (orthographic 'in') which is a nasalized vowel only. /t,d,s,z/ are palato-alveolar affricates and fricatives before front vowels or /j/. /n/ is palatal before /j/ and velar before /w/. |
| Source(s): | Hyman, L. and Magaji, D. 1970. Essentials of Gwari Grammar. Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Occasional Publication No. 27. |