Berom or Birom (Cèn Bèrom) is the most widely spoken Plateau language in Nigeria. The language is locally numerically important and is consistently spoken by Berom of all ages in rural areas. However, the Berom are shifting to Hausa in cities.[3] The small Cen and Nincut dialects may be separate languages. Approximately 1 million (2010) people speak in this language.[3]
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Quick Facts Person, People ...
Berom[2] |
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Person | Wòrom |
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People | Berom; Birom (Du dialect) |
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Language | Cèn Bèrom |
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Berom is spoken in a large area extending from some precolonial settlements embedded within the Jos metropolitan area to the south of Jos city to Barkin Ladi and Riyom in Plateau State, Nigeria.[4] The Berom population distribution culminates at the edge of the Jos plateau in Sopp chiefdom of Riyom Local Government Area.
Consonants
Eastern Berom consists of twenty-four consonant phonemes:[7]
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- /ts/ occurs in the Foron dialect.
- /p/ /b/, /m/ are bilabial, while /f/ and /v/ are labiodental.
- /tʃ/, /dʒ/, and /ʃ/ are palato-alveolar, while /ɲ/ and /j/ are palatal.
In Berom, approximants are found in the last position, for example, orthographic rou is /ròw/ and vei is /vèj/.
Vowels
This language consists of seven vowel phonemes:
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Berom consists of three type of tones and four glide tones (Bouquiaux 1970). The glide tones are treated here as rising and falling tones. The tones are as follows:
/tút / = (to climb) for a high tone
/shɛl/ = (small) No tone mark is demonstrated for the Mid tone.
/bàsa/ = (to teach, read,) for a low tone
/nepâs/ = (new) for a falling tone
/sǎn/ = (empty) for a rising tone
Berom orthography:[4]
a, b, c, d, e, ɛ, f, g, gb, h, i, j, k, kp, l, m, n, ng, o, ɔ, p, r, s, sh, t, ts, u, v, w, y, z