Kola

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Kola (Native: ጅቆለ /d͡ʒɨkʼolə/, Latin script: Jïqolä) is a Bantu language spoken in Eritrea and the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.

Introduction

Phonology

Orthography

Consonants

Kola consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal/
Postalveolar
Velar Pharyngeal Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop ejective (ʈʼ)1
aspirated (ʈʰ)1 ʔ
voiced b d (ɖ)1 ɡ
Affricate ejective t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ
aspirated t͡ʃʰ
voiced d͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f s (ʂ)1 ʃ χ ħ h
voiced v z (ʐ)1 (ʒ)2 ʁ ʕ
Approximant/Liquid w l r j

Notes:

1 The "retroflex" consonants /ʈʼ, ʈʰ, ɖ, ʂ, ʐ/ are not truly retroflex but rather apical alveolar or post-alveolar. They occur dialectally and correspond to standard /t͡ʃʼ, t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ, ʃ, d͡ʒ/ respectively.

2 The distinction between /d͡ʒ/ and /ʒ/ has been lost in the standard language (where they occur in free variation), but is still present in some dialects.

Vowels

Vowel phonemes
  Front Central Back
High i ɨ u
Mid e ə o
Low a

Prosody

Stress

Intonation

Phonotactics

The maximum allowed syllable structure is CVCC word-finally and CVC otherwise. Consonant clusters with more than two consonants are broken up by inserting the epenthetic vowel /ɨ/.

Vowels cannot occur in hiatus. When this would occur, they are separated with epenthetic consonants such as /j/, /w/, or /ʔ/.

Morphophonology

Morphology

Syntax

Constituent order

Noun phrase

Verb phrase

Sentence phrase

Dependent clauses

Example texts

Other resources