Idun language

Not to be confused with Idon language.

Idun
Dũya
Idṹ
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Kaduna State
Native speakers	78,000 (2012)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Plateau Central ? Koroic Idun
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ldb
Glottolog	idun1241

Dṹ[2]
Person	Udṹ
People	Adṹ
Language	Idṹ

Idun (Idũ), or Dũya (Dunya, Adong, Lungu, Ungu), is a poorly attested Plateau language of Nigeria. Its classification is uncertain, but it may be closest to Ashe.

Villages

Speakers live in Ramindop B, Ùndofã̀, Udou, Táymɛ̀̃, Adar, Igbà, Mɛ̀mdɔr, Hùrtɔ̀̃, Àgbàŋànɔr, Ùmbùmbàŋ, Jàja, Ǹdam, Kùkaŋ, Ùkare, Ùnwĩĩ, Igbayinɔr, Ìdɛ̀zìnì, and Ugɛrɛ villages of Kaduna State. Hausa village names are Shinkafa, Yèlwa, Jabe Panda, and Gunduma.^[3]

Phonology

Consonants

^[4]

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Labial-palatal	Velar	Labial-velar	Glottal
Stop	p b		t d			c ɟ		k ɡ	k͡p ɡ͡b
Nasal	m		n					ŋ
Tap			ɾ		ɽ
Trill			r
Fricative		f v	s z	ʃ ʒ				x ɣ		h
Affricate	p̪͡f b̪͡v		t͡s d͡z
Approximant						j	ɥ		w
Lateral			(l)^1

1. Only in recent loanwords, mostly from Hausa

Vowels

^[5]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Near-Close	ɪ		ʊ
Close-Mid	e		o
Open-Mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

All vowels except the near-close vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ can appear long, nasalised or both; the vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ are being lost for young speakers.^[6]

Tone

There are three level tones in Idun, as well as a rising tone and falling tone arising from adjacent level tones.

References

1. Idun at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
3. Blench, Roger. 2010. The Idũ language of Central Nigeria: Phonology, wordlist and suggestions for orthography changes.
4. Roger Blench, The Idũ language of Central Nigeria: Phonology, wordlist and suggestions for orthography changes. (2010:6).
5. Roger Blench (2010:1-2).
6. Roger Blench (2010:1)

External links

• Roger Blench: Idũ page