Giryama dialect

{{Short description |Variety of Mijikenda from southern Kenya}} {{Infobox language | name = Giryama | states = [[Kenya]] | ethnicity = [[Mijikenda peoples|Mijikenda]], [[Giriama people|Giryama]] | region = [[Kilifi District|Kilifi]] district | ref = e26 | familycolor = Niger-Congo | fam2 = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] | fam3 = [[Volta-Congo]] | fam4 = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]] | fam5 = [[Bantoid]] | fam6 = [[Southern Bantoid]] | fam7 = [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] | fam8 = [[Northeast Bantu]] | fam9 = [[Northeast Coast Bantu languages|Northeast Coast Bantu]] | fam10 = [[Mijikenda language|Mijikenda]] | glotto = giry1241 | glottorefname = Giryama | iso3 = nyf }}

'''Giryama''' is a dialect variety of the [[Mijikenda language|Mijikenda]] language spoken along the southern coast of [[Kenya]], predominantly in the [[Kilifi District|Kilifi]] district.

== Phonology == === Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" |[[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Labiodental consonant|Labio- dental]] ! colspan="2" |[[Dental consonant|Dental]]/[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Postalveolar consonant|Post-alv.]]/ [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- !plain ![[Labialized velar consonant|lab.]] !plain ![[sibilant]] !plain ![[Labialized velar consonant|lab.]] |- ! colspan="2" |[[Nasal stop|Nasal]] |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|mʷ}} | |{{IPA link|n}} | |{{IPA link|ɲ}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} | | |- ! rowspan="4" |[[Plosive]]/ [[Affricate]] !voiceless |{{IPA link|p}} | | |{{IPA link|t}} |{{IPA link|t͡s}} |{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} |{{IPA link|k}} |{{IPA link|kʷ}} |({{IPA link|ʔ}}) |- ![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] |{{IPA link|pʰ}} | | |{{IPA link|tʰ}} |{{IPA link|t͡sʰ}} |{{IPA link|tʃʰ}} |{{IPA link|kʰ}} |{{IPA link|kʷʰ}} | |- !voiced |{{IPA link|b}} | | |{{IPA link|d}} |{{IPA link|d͡z}} |{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} |{{IPA link|ɡ}} |{{IPA link|ɡʷ}} | |- ![[Prenasalized consonant|prenasal]] |{{IPA link|ᵐb}} | | |{{IPA link|ⁿd}} |{{IPA link|ⁿd͡z}} |{{IPA link|ᶮd͡ʒ}} |{{IPA link|ᵑɡ}} |{{IPA link|ᵑɡʷ}} | |- ! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative]] !voiceless | | |{{IPA link|f}} | |{{IPA link|s}} |{{IPA link|ʃ}} | | |{{IPA link|h}} |- !voiced |{{IPA link|β}} | |{{IPA link|v}} |{{IPA link|ð}} |{{IPA link|z}} |{{IPA link|ʒ}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]] | | | |{{IPA link|ɾ}} ~ {{IPA link|r}} | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]] | | | |{{IPA link|l}} | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]] | | | | | |{{IPA link|j}} | |{{IPA link|w}} | |}

*Labialized sounds {{IPA|/mʷ, kʷ, kʷʰ, ɡʷ, ᵑɡʷ/}} can alternatively be pronounced as labio-velar stops {{IPA|[ŋ͡m, k͡p, k͡pʰ, ɡ͡b, ᵑɡ͡b]}} among speakers in free variation. *{{IPAslink|ɾ}} may have allophones as either {{IPAblink|ɾ}}, {{IPAblink|r}}, or {{IPAblink|ɹ}}, all heard interchangeably. *{{IPAblink|ʔ}} is only heard in between vowel sounds, to break up a sequence of two vowels.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Volk |first=Erez |title=High, low and in between: Giryama tonology |publisher=Tel Aviv University |year=2007 |degree=MA}}</ref> *Taylor (1891), noted two dental stops {{IPA|[t̪, d̪]}}, however they were not easy to identify and therefore are not considered as phonemes.

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! ![[Front vowel|Front]] ![[Central vowel|Central]] ![[Back vowel|Back]] |- ![[Close vowel|Close]] |{{IPA link|i}} | |{{IPA link|u}} |- ![[Mid vowel|Mid]] |{{IPA link|e}} | |{{IPA link|o}} |- ![[Open vowel|Open]] | |{{IPA link|a}} | |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * Taylor, William Ernest. 1891. ''Giryama vocabulary and collections''. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK).

[[Category:Northeast Coast Bantu languages]]