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

There are several kinds of Marghi language, including Madube, Izge, Lassa, Gulak, Damboa, Mulgwai, Uba and Sukur.

Phonology

Vowels FrontCentralBackHigh()()Mid()()Low According to Maddieson (1987), Margi is noted for having a vertical vowel system, with only two phonemic vowels, and , in native vocabulary. Loan words also distinguish and .

Consonants Margi has a large consonant inventory, with a number of labialised consonants and typologically infrequent speech sounds such as a labiodental flap. Hoffmann (1963) describes 84 consonantal phonemes, a very large number compared to that of most languages. This system, with a great number of non-click consonants, compares to that of the Caucasian language Ubykh, having the largest inventory of any language without clicks. However, Hoffmann's list of consonants includes all sequences of consonant clusters occurring in onsets in the language. Many of these clusters have since been analysed as sequences, such as and . Labial coronal consonants are excedingly rare in the languages the world. If labialized consonants are counted separately, there are 66 consonants that remain in the analysis, and 54 if it is interpreted as a sequence.

+Consonants LabialDentalAlveolarPost-alveolarPalatalVelarLabio-velarGlottalsibilantlateralNasal Plosivevoiceless voiced glot. implosiveprenasal vl.prenasal vd.Fricativevoiceless voiced Approximantcentral glottalizedVibrant The velar may be closer to an approximant . The closely related language Bura is similar but has a palatalised lateral series as well. is used in mimesis rather than in lexical vocabulary. The glottalised consonants 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: There may be a few others, such as .

See also Marghi South Marghi West

References

External links

Further reading 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.