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Jalaa (autonym: bàsàrə̀n dà jàlààbè̩), also known as Cèntûm,[2] Centúúm or Cen Tuum, is an extinct language of northeastern Nigeria (Loojaa settlement in Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State), of uncertain origins, apparently a language isolate. The Jalabe (as descendants of speakers of the language are called) speak the Bwilim dialect of the Dikaka language. It is possible (but unconfirmed) that some remembered words have been retained for religious ceremonies, but in 1992 only a few elders remember words that their parents had used, and by 2010 there may not even remain any such rememberers.[1]

Jalaa
Centúúm
bàsàrə̀n dà jàlààbè̩
Native toNigeria
RegionLoojaa settlement in Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State
Extinctseveral elders remembered words from their forefathers in 1992, likely none by 2010[1]
Language family
language isolate
Language codes
ISO 639-3cet
Glottologcent2045
ELPCentúúm

The Jalabe are said to have come to Loojaa from an area a few miles south within the Muri Mountains, where they had shared a settlement with Tso and Kwa clans. (The name of this settlement, Cèntûm or Cùntûm, is used as a name for the language in some sources. Jalaa elders differ in whether they believe Jalaa or Centum/Cuntum was their original name for themselves.) Later, during the nineteenth century, the Dikaka arrived in the area, fleeing attacks from the larger Waja to the north; the Cham intermarried with the Jalabe, and the Jalabe began to adopt the Dikaka language.


Phonology


[2]

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar/
Palatal
Velar Labial-velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t t͡ʃ k kp
voiced b d d͡ʒ g
Fricative f s h
Approximant l j w
Trill r
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Near-close ɪ ʊ
Close-mid e ɘ o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Lexicon


The Jalaa lexicon is also strongly influenced by Dikaka (which it has in turn influenced); some similarities are also found with the nearby Tso. However, most of its vocabulary is extremely unusual. In Kleinewillinghöfer's words, "The major part of the lexicon seems to differ entirely from all the surrounding languages, which themselves represent different language families."

Both Dikaka and the Tso traditionally avoided using names of the dead. When those names were also words of the language, as often happened, this forced them to change the word, sometimes by replacing it with a word from a neighboring language. Kleinewillinghöfer regards this as a motivation for certain cases of borrowing from Jalaa into Dikaka.


Numerals


The numerals 1-6 in Jalaa are:

  1. násán
  2. tiyú, tə́só
  3. tətáá, bwànbí
  4. təbwár, ŋbár
  5. (tə)nó
  6. tənúkùn

Above 5, the numerals are almost identical to Dikaka. The numerals 2 through 5 are almost identical with Tso, while "one" has no clear cognates.


Morphology


Jalaa morphology (at least in its present form) is almost identical to that of Cham. The main differences in the noun class system are two of the plural suffixes: Jalaa -ta versus Cham -te̩ and (for humans) Jalaa -bo, -ba versus Cham -b(e̩).

Noun morphology is similar to that of Cham, but with some differences. Some sample singular and plural noun sets in Jalaa and Cham:[3]

GlossJalaa, sg.Jalaa, pl.Cham, sg.Cham, pl.
mouthbɔɔbɔɔníɲiiɲiini
treegwììràŋgwììtɛ̀riyaŋriitɛ
meatlìbòlìbòténàmnàmtɛ
holesuroŋsuroŋte
noseyaməryamətaʤʊ̀rʤʊ̀tɛ
legkobərkobta
fishfuifuuta
wifeʧùwìʧùùbó
personnətânətaabaniinə̀b
crocodilekùlɔŋkùlɔ̀ŋtɛ
knotfúbərfúbtɛ
dogʤɔilʤɔɔtɛ
stranger(nii) fuifùbɛ

See also



Bibliography



References


  1. Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich (December 2010). Jalaa, the last member of an extinct language family. Workshop Language Isolates in Africa. Lyon, France; which in words of the author is a revised edition of Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich (2001). "Jalaa - An almost forgotten language of NE Nigeria: A language isolate". In Nurse, Derek (ed.). Historical Language Contact in Africa. SUGIA Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika. Vol. 16/17. Cologne, Germany: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 239–271. ISBN 978-3-89645-091-3.
  2. Blench, Roger (30 June 2014). "African language isolates: Circulation draft" (PDF). Cambridge, UK. p. 9.
  3. Blench, Roger (2017). "African Language Isolates". In Campbell, Lyle (ed.). Language Isolates. Routledge Language Family. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315750026. ISBN 9781138821057.

На других языках


[de] Jalaa

Jalaa ist eine ausgestorbene Sprache in Nordost-Nigeria, die dem Anschein nach als letztes Mitglied einer ausgestorbenen Sprachfamilie angesehen werden kann. Jalaa wurde im Herzen der Muri-Berge im Bundesstaat Bauchi von den Jalabe (auch Jaabe) gesprochen. Die Jalabe haben in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten ihre Sprache zugunsten des Bwilim-Dialekts des Dikaka (der Sprache ihrer direkten Nachbarn) aufgegeben.
- [en] Jalaa language

[fr] Jalaa

Le jalaa (ou centúúm) est une langue menacée d'extinction du nord-est du Nigeria d'origine incertaine (avec une hypothèse reliant le jalaa aux langues nigéro-congolaises). Elle est actuellement parlée par une poignée d'individus âgés, en effet l'ethnie parlant traditionnellement le jalaa (les Jalabe) utilise de plus en plus le dialecte bwilim de Cham au quotidien.

[ru] Джалаа

Джалаа (чентум, чен туум, чунтум) — язык-изолят, распространённый на северо-востоке Нигерии — в селении Лооджаа (район Баланга, штат Баучи). Находится под угрозой исчезновения — среди носителей распространён как основной язык диалект диджим языка чам (дикака), при этом язык джалаа используют в основном старики[1].



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