Eloyi language

Eloyi, or Afu (Afo) or Ajiri,^[2] is a Plateau language of uncertain classification. It is spoken by the Eloyi people of Agatu LGA and Otukpo LGA of Benue State and Nassarawa State in Nigeria.

Eloyi
Afu
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Benue State, Nassarawa State
Native speakers	100,000 (2021)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Plateau Eloyi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	afo
Glottolog	eloy1241

Classification

Armstrong (1955, 1983)^[3][4] classified Eloyi as Idomoid, but that identification was based on a single word list and Armstrong later expressed doubts.^[5] Other preliminary accounts classify it as Plateau,^[6] and Blench (2008) leaves it as a separate branch of Plateau.^[7]

Blench (2007) considers Eloyi to be a divergent Plateau language that has undergone Idomoid influence, rather than vice versa.^[8]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[9]

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial- velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p		t			k	k͡p
	voiced	b		d			g	g͡b
Affricate				d͡z		d͡ʒ
Fricative	voiceless		f	s	ʃ				h
	voiced		v	z
Nasal		m		n		ɲ	ŋ
Rhotic				r/ɾ
Approximant				l		j		w

• Muniru et al. (2021) classify /ʃ/ as post-alveolar, but /d͡ʒ/, /ɲ/, and /j/ as palatal.^[9]
• Blench (2007) includes two palatal plosives, written ⟨c⟩ and ⟨j⟩,^[6] which Muniru et al. (2021) interpret as /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/, respectively. However, Muniru et al. do not find /t͡ʃ/ in their wordlists.^[9]
• Muniru et al. also place /h/ in the labial-velar column of the table but describe it as a voiceless glottal fricative.^[9] Blench (2007) does not include /h/ in the consonant inventory.^[6]
• Muniru et al. also found instances of labialization and palatalization.^[10]

Vowels

Vowels^[10][11]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

• Muniru et al. (2021) also found [ø] in [ɾǿwɛ́] 'red', though they state this may be due to the following [w].^[10] They also mention that there may be five tones: low, mid, high, rising-falling, and falling-rising.^[12]

Notes

1. Eloyi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (eds.). "Ajiri". Glottolog. 5.0. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
3. Blench 2007, citing Armstrong, R. G. (1955). "The Idoma-speaking peoples". In Forde, C. D. (ed.). Peoples of the Niger-Benue confluence. Ethnographic Survey of Africa. Vol. X. London: IAI. pp. 77–89.
4. Blench 2007, citing Armstrong, R. G. (1983). "The Idomoid languages of the Benue and Cross River Valleys". Journal of West African Languages. 13 (1): 91–149.
5. Blench 2007, citing Armstrong, R. G. (1984). "The consonant system of Akpa". Nigerian Language Teacher. 5 (2): 29.
6. Blench 2007, p. 5.
7. Blench, Roger (24 April 2008). "Prospecting proto-Plateau" (PDF). Draft. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
8. Blench 2007, p. 26.
9. Muniru et al. 2021, p. 21.
10. Muniru et al. 2021, p. 22.
11. Blench 2007, p. 2.
12. Muniru et al. 2021, p. 23.

References

• Blench, Roger (15 September 2007). "The Eloyi language of Central Nigeria and its affinities" (PDF). Draft. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2015.
• Muniru, John; Decker, Kendall D.; Danladi, Yakubu; Riepe, Christina; et al. (2021). "A Sociolinguistic Profile of the Ajiri (Eloyi) [afo] Language of Nasarawa and Benue States, Nigeria". Journal of Language Survey Reports. 2021–035. ISSN 2766-9327. Retrieved 29 June 2024.

External links

• ComparaLex, database with Eloyi word list