Margi language

Margi
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Borno State, Adamawa State
Native speakers	160,000 (2006)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Chadic Biu–Mandara Bura–Higi Bura (A.2) Margi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mrt
Glottolog	marg1265
Ethnic territories of the Marghi-speaking people in Nigeria (pinkish red)

Margi, also known as Marghi and Marghi Central, is a Chadic language spoken in Nigeria. It is perhaps the best described of the Biu–Mandara branch of that family. Marghi South and Putai are closely related, and sometimes considered dialects of Margi.

Phonology

Margi is noted for having a vertical vowel system, with only two vowels, /ɨ/ and /a/, in native vocabulary. (Loan words also distinguish /ɛ/ and /o/.) There are two tones, high and low, with some syllables unmarked for tone. Margi also has a large consonant inventory, with a number of labialized consonants and unusual phones such as a labiodental flap. Hoffmann (1963) describes 84 consonantal phonemes, an enormous number compared to that of most languages, equivalent to that of Ubykh as the largest inventory of any language without clicks. However, Hoffmann's list of consonants includes all onsets in the language. Many of them have since, by other researchers, been analyzed as sequences, such as /pt/ and /bz/. There are 66 consonants that remain if labialization is counted separately, 54 if it is interpreted as a /Cw/ sequence.

Consonants

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Lateral	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labio- velar	Glottal
Nasal	m mʷ	n				ɲ	ŋ	ŋʷ
Glottalized	ɓ̰ ɓ̰ʷ	ɗ̰				j̰		w̰
Prenasalized	mp	nt ntʷ	nts ntsʷ		ntʃ	ɲc	ŋk	ŋkʷ
	mb mbʷ	nd	ndz		ndʒ	ɲɟ	ŋɡ	ŋɡʷ
Oral occlusive	p pʷ	t tʷ	ts		tʃ	c	k	kʷ	ʔ
	b bʷ	d	dz		dʒ	ɟ	ɡ	ɡʷ
Fricative	f fʷ		s sʷ	ɬ ɬʷ	ʃ	[ç]	x	ʍ
	v vʷ		z	ɮ	ʒ	[ʝ]	ɣ
Approximant				l		j		w
Vibrant	ⱱ	r

[ç] and [ʝ] are palatalized allophones of /x/ and /ɣ/, the latter of which is closer to an approximant [ɰ]. The closely related language Bura is similar but has a palatalized lateral series as well. /ⱱ/ is used in mimesis rather than in lexical vocabulary. The glottalized consonants /ɓ̰ ɓ̰ʷ ɗ̰/ have been described as either creaky voiced or implosive; according to Maddieson, they are evidently both, as in Hausa.

The sequences that Hoffmann included in his consonant inventory are all labial–coronal:

ps [fs], pɬ, pç [fç], pt, pts, ptʃ, mpt, mpts, mptʃ, bz [vz], bɮ, (bʝ [vʝ]), bd, bdz, bdʒ, mbd, mbdz, mbdʒ, ɓ̰ɗ̰, mn

References

• Hoffmann, C. 1963. A Grammar of the Margi Language. Oxford University Press for International African Institute, London.
• Maddieson, I. 1987. "The Margi vowel system and labiocoronals." Studies in African Linguistics, vol. 18, No. 3, Dec. 1987.