Acheron (Asheron) is a language in the Talodi family spoken in South Kordofan, Sudan.
Acheron derives from the Arabic word which means "innocent people", it was later "indigenised as ", quoted in and turned into . The autoethonym in Acheron is for the people and for the language.
The number of active speakers is estimated to be 9,800. This number includes the community members and "diaspora speakers" in other Sudanese towns and abroad.
Phonology Consonants +Consonants Bilabial Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal VelarPlosive voiceless voiced Fricative voiceless voiced Nasal short long Trill Tap Approximant short long
Norton (2000) calls and "stiff cord" segments, saying they are always voiceless, with other short plosives and fricatives varying in voicing.
Vowels +Vowels Front Central BackClose [+ATR] [-ATR] Mid Open
Norton (1995) posited 10 vowels: 5 [-ATR] /, , , / and 5 [+ATR] /, , , , /., quoted in However, Norton (2013) has 8 vowels: [-ATR] /, , , , , / and [+ATR] / /.
Notes
References
Further reading
External links Listen to a sample of Acheron from Global Recordings Network