Tera language
| Tera | |
|---|---|
| Region | Nigeria |
|
Native speakers
|
101,000 (2000) |
|
Afro-Asiatic
|
|
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | tera1251 |
Tera is a Chadic dialect cluster spoken in north-eastern Nigeria in the north and eastern parts of Gombe State and Borno State. Blench (2006) believes Pidlimdi (Hinna) dialect is a separate language.
Vowel length contrasts are neutralized in monosyllabic words with no coda consonants.
All vowels but /a/ and /aː/ are more open in closed syllables such as in [ɮɛp] ('to plait') and [xʊ́r] ('to cook soup'). /a/ and /aː/ tend to be fronted to [æ, æː] when following palatalized consonants.
Diphthongs, which have the same length as long vowels, consist of a non-high vowel and a high vowel:
Tera is a tonal language, distinguishing high, mid and low tone. Tone is not indicated orthographically since no minimal trios exist; minimal pairs can be distinguished by context.
The first publication in Tera was Labar Mbarkandu nu Yohanna Bula Ki, a translation of the Gospel of John, which established an orthographic system. In 2004, this orthographic system was revised.
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