{{Short description|Jukunoid language of Nigeria, also called Wukari or Kororofa}} {{distinguish|Jukun language (disambiguation){{!}}Jukun language}} {{Infobox language |name = Wapan |nativename = Jukun |states = Nigeria |region = Taraba State, Plateau State, Nasarawa State |speakers = 100,000 |date=1994 |ref=e18 |dia1=Wukan |script=Latin |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo languages |fam3=Benue–Congo |fam4=Jukunoid |fam5=Central |fam6=Kororofa |iso3=juk |glotto=wapa1235 |glottorefname=Wapan }}
'''Wapan''' (Jukun Wapan) or '''Kororofa''',<ref name="BlenchAtlas4"/> also known as '''Wukari''' after the local town of Wukari, is a major Jukunoid language<ref>{{Glottolog|wapa1235|Wapan}}</ref> of Nigeria.
==Varieties== Blench (2019) lists the following varieties as part of the Kororofa (Jukun Wapan) cluster:<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}}</ref> *Abinsi *Wapan proper *Hõne *Dampar (spoken at Dampar, Wukari LGA)
==Phonology==
=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! colspan="3" |Labial ! colspan="3" |Alveolar ! rowspan="2" |Palatal ! colspan="3" |Velar ! rowspan="2" |Labio-<br>velar ! colspan="3" |Glottal |- !<small>plain</small> !<small>pal.</small> !<small>lab.</small> !<small>plain</small> !<small>pal.</small> !<small>lab.</small> !<small>plain</small> !<small>pal.</small> !<small>lab.</small> !<small>plain</small> !<small>pal.</small> !<small>lab.</small> |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |m |mʲ | |n | | | |ŋ | | | | | | |- ! rowspan="3" |Plosive !<small>voiceless</small> |p |pʲ |pʷ |t |tʲ | | |k |kʲ |kʷ |k͡p | | | |- !<small>voiced</small> |b |bʲ |bʷ |d |dʲ | | |ɡ |ɡʲ | |ɡ͡b | | | |- !<small>prenasal</small> |ᵐb |ᵐbʲ | |ⁿd |ⁿdʲ | | |ᵑɡ |ᵑɡʲ | | | | | |- ! rowspan="2" |Affricate !<small>voiceless</small> | | | |t͡s | |t͡sʷ | | | | | | | | |- !<small>voiced</small> | | | |d͡z | |d͡zʷ | | | | | | | | |- ! rowspan="2" |Fricative !<small>voiceless</small> |f |fʲ | |s |sʲ |sʷ | | | | | |h |hʲ |hʷ |- !<small>voiced</small> |v |vʲ | |z |zʲ | | | | | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Trill | | | |r | | | | | | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Approximant | | | | | | |j | | | |w | | | |}
=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Central !Back |- !High |i ĩ | |u ũ |- !Mid |e ẽ | |o õ |- !Low | |a ã | |}
* Vowels are also typically always pronounced as nasalized when after nasal consonants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Welmers |first=William Everrett |title=Jukun of Wukari and Jukun of Takum |publisher=Ibadan, Nigeria: University of Ibadan |year=1968}}</ref>
=== Nasal consonants === Wapan and other Jukunoid languages are interesting in the development of asymmetrical patterns of nasal and oral consonants in West Africa.
One could posit that voiced oral stops become nasal before nasal vowels, sometimes at the expense of having more nasal than oral vowels, which is typologically odd, or that nasal stops denasalise before oral vowels, which is typologically odd as well.
Oral vowels are allowed only in syllables like ''ba, mba'', nasal vowels in ''bã, mã''.
Historically, however, the consonants nasalized: *mb became **mm before nasal vowels and then reduced to *m, leaving the current asymmetric distribution.<ref>Larry Hyman, 1975. "Nasal states and nasal processes." In ''Nasalfest: Papers from a Symposium on Nasals and Nasalization,'' pp. 249–264</ref>
{|class=wikitable |- |''allophonic Ṽ next to N '' |*mã||*mãm||*mba||*'''mbãm'''||*ba||*bãm |- |''*mb → *mm/_Ṽ'' |*mã||*mãm||*mba||*'''mmãm'''||*ba||*bãm |- |''*mm → *m'' |*mã||*mãm||*mba||*'''mãm'''||*ba||*bãm |- |''loss of final C'' |mã||mã||mba||'''mã'''||ba||bã |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Incubator|juk}}
{{Platoid languages}}
Category:Jukunoid languages Category:Languages of Nigeria