{{short description|Dialect continuum of Plateau languages in Nigeria}} {{Infobox language | name = Izere | altname = Afusare | nativename = {{lang|mul|Izarek}} | region = [[Kaduna State]], [[Bauchi State]], [[Plateau (state)|Plateau]] | states = [[Nigeria]] | speakers = {{formatnum:500000}} | date = 2006–2016 | ref = e18 | familycolor = Niger-Congo | fam2 = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] | fam3 = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]] | fam4 = [[Plateau languages|Plateau]] | fam5 = [[Central Plateau languages|Central]] ? | fam6 = Izeric | lc1 = izr | ld1 = NE & NW Izere | lc2 = cen | ld2 = Cèn (Chen) | lc3 = gne | ld3 = Ganàng (Gashish) | glotto = none | glotto2 = izer1242 | glottoname2 = Izeric, incl. [[Firan language|Firan]] | glottorefname2 = Izeric | lc4 = fiz | ld4 = Izere (retired) }}

'''Izere''' is a [[dialect continuum ]] of [[Plateau languages]] in [[Nigeria]].<ref>{{Glottolog|izer1242|Izeric}}</ref> According to Blench (2008), it is four languages, though ''Ethnologue'' does not distinguish NW and NE Izere. The Cen and Ganang varieties are spoken by only 2000 each. Cen has added [[Berom language|Berom]] noun-class prefixes and consonant alternation to an Izere base.

==Dialects== Blench (2019) lists the following Izere dialects.<ref name="BlenchAtlas4">{{Cite book|title=An Atlas of Nigerian Languages|last=Blench|first=Roger|publisher=Kay Williamson Educational Foundation|year=2019|edition=4th|location=Cambridge|url=https://www.academia.edu/40463130}}</ref>

*Fobur *Northeastern (Federe) *Southern (Foron) *Ichèn *Faishang *Ganang

==Phonology== The Izere phonetic inventory includes 29 consonants and seven vowels and distinguishes three tone levels; two additional contour tones appear only rarely, in loanwords and due to [[onomatopoeia]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Blench|first1=Roger|last2=Kaze|first2=Bitrus|title=Dictionary of the Izere language|url=http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm}}</ref>

===Consonants=== The consonant [[phoneme]]s of Izere are shown in the following table.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! ! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]] ! [[Labiodental consonant|Labiodental]] ! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! [[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-alveolar]] ! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! [[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! [[Labial–velar consonant|Labial–velar]] ! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- ! [[Stop consonant|Stop]] | {{IPA link|p}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|b}} | | {{IPA link|t}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|d}} | | {{IPA link|c}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|ɟ}} | {{IPA link|k}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|ɡ}} | {{IPA link|k͡p}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|ɡ͡b}} | |- ! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] | | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} | | {{IPA link|ɲ}} | {{IPA link|ŋ}} | {{IPA link|ŋ͡m}} | |- ! [[Trill consonant|Trill]] | | | ({{IPA link|r}}) | | | | | |- ! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] | | {{IPA link|f}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|v}} | {{IPA link|s}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|z}} | {{IPA link|ʃ}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA link|ʒ}} | | | | {{IPA link|h}} |- ! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] | | | {{IPA link|ts}} | | | | | |- ! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] | | | | | {{IPA link|j}},&nbsp;{{IPA link|ɥ}} | | {{IPA link|w}} | |- ! [[Lateral consonant|Lateral]] | | | {{IPA link|l}} | | | | | |}

===Vowels=== The vowel phonemes of Izere are shown in the following table. {|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Vowel phonemes |- ! ! [[Front vowel|Front]] !! [[Back vowel|Back]] |- ! [[Close vowel|Close]] | {{IPA link|i}} || {{IPA link|u}} |- ![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]] | {{IPA link|e}} || {{IPA link|o}} |- ! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]] | {{IPA link|ɛ}} || |- ![[Open vowel|Open]] |colspan="2"| {{IPA link|ä|a}} |}

===Tonemes=== There are three level (L, M & H) and two contour [[Tone (linguistics)|tonemes]] (LM & HL) in Izere; the latter two are found only in loanwords and onomatopoeia.

==References== {{reflist}} *Blench (2008) [https://web.archive.org/web/20140407193342/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Plateau/General/Prospecting%20proto-Plateau%20Unicode.pdf ''Prospecting proto-Plateau'']. Manuscript.

==External links== *[http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Plateau/Izeric/IzOP.htm Roger Blench: Izere page]

{{Platoid languages}} [[Category:Central Plateau languages]] [[Category:Languages of Nigeria]]