Jju
Kaje
Diryem Jju
Native toNigeria
RegionKaduna State
Native speakers
600,000 (2020)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kaj
Glottologjjuu1238
Jju[2]
PeopleBa̠jju
LanguageJju
CountryKa̠jju

Jju (Tyap: Jhyuo; Hausa: Kaje, Kache) is the native language of the Bajju people of Kaduna State in central Nigeria. As of 1988, there were approximately 300,000 speakers.[1] Jju is one of the Southern Kaduna languages.[1][3] Although usually listed separately from the Tyap cluster, Jju's separation, according to Blench R.M. (2018), seems to be increasingly ethnic rather than a linguistic reality.[4]

Distribution

Jju is spoken as a first language by the Bajju people in Zangon Kataf, Jema'a, Kachia, Kaura and Kaduna South Local Government Areas of Kaduna state. It is also spoken in neighbouring Atyap, Fantswam, Agworok, Ham, Adara, and other kin communities as a second or third language.

Phonology

Vowels

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

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial–velar
Nasal plain m n ŋ
tense mː nː ŋː
Stop plain p b t d k ɡ k͡p ɡ͡b
tense pː bː tː dː kː ɡː
Affricate plain p͡f b͡v t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
tense p͡fː b͡vː t͡sː d͡zː t͡ʃː d͡ʒː
Fricative plain f s ʃ
tense fː sː ʃː
Rhotic tap ɾ
tense ɾː
trill r
Approximant labial ʍ w ɥ̊ ɥ
lab. tense ʍː wː ɥ̊ː ɥː
central j̊ j
tense jː
  • Consonants also occur as labialized [ʷ] as palatalized [ʲ].
  • Aspiration [ʰ] may phonetically occur among stops.
  • Tense stops /kː ɡː/ may also be heard as affricates [k͡x, ɡ͡ɣ].[5]

Numerals

  1. A̠yring
  2. A̠hwa
  3. A̠tat
  4. A̠naai
  5. A̠pfwon
  6. A̠kitat
  7. A̠tiyring
  8. A̠ninai
  9. A̠kumbvuyring
  10. Swak
  11. Swak bu a̠yring
  12. Swak bu a̠hwa
  13. Swak bu a̠tat
  14. Swak bu a̠naai
  15. Swak bu a̠pfwon
  16. Swak bu a̠kitat
  17. Swak bu a̠tiyring
  18. Swak bu a̠ninai
  19. Swak bu a̠kumbvuyring)P″
  20. Nswak nh|c
  • 30. Nswak ntat
  • 40. Nswak nnaai
  • 50. Nswak npfwon
  • 60. Nswak a̠kitat
  • 70. Nswak a̠tiyring
  • 80. Nswak a̠ninai
  • 90. Nswak a̠kumbvuyring
  • 100. Cyi
  • 1000. Cyikwop

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jju at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  3. ↑ "Glottolog 3.0 - Bajju". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  4. ↑ Blench, Roger M. (2018). Watters, John R. (ed.). East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs (Niger-Congo Comparative Studies 1) [Nominal affixes and number marking in the Plateau languages]. Berlin: Language Science Press. pp. 128–129. ISBN 9783961101009. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  5. ↑ McKinney, Norris P. (April 1990). "Temporal characteristics of fortis stops and affricates in Tyap and Jju". Journal of Phonetics. 18 (2): 255–266. doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30392-4. ISSN 0095-4470.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Jju language.


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