Zarma language

Zarma
Zarmaciine
Region	southwestern Niger
Ethnicity	Zarma people
Native speakers	2.4 million (2006)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Songhay Southern Zarma
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	zarm1239
Location of Songhay languages Northwest Songhay:   Korandje   Koyra Chiini   Tadaksahak   Tasawaq   Tagdal Eastern Songhay:   Tondi Songway Kiini   Humburi Senni   Koyraboro Senni   Zarma language   Dendi
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Northwest Songhay:

Eastern Songhay:

Zarma (also spelled Djerma, Dyabarma, Dyarma, Dyerma, Adzerma, Zabarma, Zarbarma, Zarma, Zarmaci, and Zerma) is a member of the Songhay languages. It is the leading indigenous language of the southwestern lobe of the West African nation of Niger, where the Niger River flows and the capital city, Niamey, is located, and it is the second leading for that entire nation, after Hausa, which is spoken in south central Niger. With over 2 million speakers, Zarma is far and away the most widely spoken of the Songhay languages. In earlier decades, Zarma was known as Djerma, and it is still sometimes called Zerma (especially among French-speakers), but today it is usually called "Zarma" as this is what Zarma-speakers call their own language.

The Zarma alphabet uses the following letters. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ɲ (or ny), ŋ, o, p, r, s, t, u, w, y, z. In addition, v may be used in a few rare words of foreign origin, but many Zarma cannot pronounce it.

Most of the letters are pronounced with IPA values, the exceptions being ⟨j⟩ [ɟ] (approximately English j, but more palatalized), ⟨y⟩ [j], ⟨r⟩ [ɾ] (a flap). The letter ⟨c⟩ is approximately like English ch, though more palatalized. The palatal nasal ⟨ɲ⟩ is sometimes spelled ⟨ny⟩.