Gwari language

Not to be confused with the Gbari language, also of Nigeria.

Gbari
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Abuja, Kaduna State, Niger State, and Nasarawa State
Ethnicity	Gbagyi people
Native speakers	1,290,000 Gbagyi (2020) 550,000 Gbari (2020)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Niger noi Nupoid Nupe–Gbagyi Gbari
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: gbr – Gbari gby – Gbagyi
Glottolog	gbag1256

Gwari is a Nupoid language spoken by the Gbagyi people, which make up over a million people in Nigeria. There are two principal varieties, Gbari (West Gwari) and Gbagyi (East Gwari), which have some difficulty in communication; sociolinguistically they are distinct languages.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ĩ		u ũ
Mid	e ẽ		o õ
Open		a ã

• /i, u, e, o/ can also have allophones [ɪ, ʊ, ɛ, ʌ].
• Nasal vowels /ĩ, ũ, ẽ, õ/ can also be heard as [ɪ̃, ʊ̃, ɛ̃, ʌ̃].

Gbagyi consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial- velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	(ɲ)	(ŋ)
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	(t͡ʃ)	k	k͡p
	voiced	b	d	(d͡ʒ)	g	ɡ͡b
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	(ʃ)			h
	voiced	v	z	(ʒ)
Approximant	central		(ɹ)	j		w
	lateral		l

• The following sounds may be labialized as /pʷ, bʷ, fʷ, vʷ, kʷ, ɡʷ, mʷ, k͡pʷ, ɡ͡bʷ, hʷ/ and palatalized as /pʲ, bʲ, fʲ, vʲ, kʲ, ɡʲ, mʲ, lʲ, wʲ/.
• Sounds /t, d, s, z, n/ when palatalized are always heard as [tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ, ɲ].
• Sounds /f, b/ can be heard as bilabial sounds [ɸ, β] in free variation.
• /n/ is heard as velar [ŋ] when preceding velar consonants.
• /n/ becomes a labialized-velar [ŋʷ] when preceding a /w/.
• Sounds /bʷ, ɡʷ, ɡʲ/ are softened to fricatives [βʷ, ɣʷ, ɣʲ] when preceding a glide, in medial-intervocalic position.
• /ɡ͡b/ is heard as an implosive [ɓ] in free variation.
• /h/ only has a limited occurrence, but it also may be allophonic with /f/ in Northern Gbagyi. In Southern Gbagyi, [h] is heard in free variation with /j/, when /j/ occurs before /i/ in syllable-final position.
• The palatalized /lʲ/ may also be heard as a central glide [ɹ].

Gbari consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial- velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	(ɲ)	(ŋ)
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k	k͡p
	voiced	b	d		g	ɡ͡b
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
	ejective				kʼ
Affricate	voiceless		t͡s	(t͡ʃ)
	voiced			(d͡ʒ)
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	(ʃ)			h
	voiced	v	z	(ʒ)
Approximant	central		(ɹ)	j		w
	lateral		l

• The following sounds may be labialized as /pʷ, bʷ, fʷ, vʷ, kʷ, ɡʷ, mʷ/ and palatalized as /pʲ, bʲ, fʲ, vʲ, tʲ, dʲ, kʲ, ɡʲ, mʲ, lʲ, wʲ/.
• Stops may also be heard as post-nasalized as [pᵐ, bᵐ, tⁿ, dⁿ, kᵑ, ɡᵑ, k͡pᵐ, ɡ͡bᵐ].
• Palatalized sounds /tʲ, dʲ/, typically occur as [tʃ, dʒ] or [tʲ, dʲ] in free variation, and as [tʃ, dʒ], they can be represented orthographically as <ch, j>. Sounds /s, z, n/ when palatalized are always heard as [ʃ, ʒ, ɲ], and can be represented orthographically as <sh, zh, ny>.
• Sounds /f, fʲ, b/ can be heard as bilabial sounds [ɸ, ɸʲ, β] in free variation.
• /d/ can also be heard as [ɾ].
• Sounds /b, ɡ/ and /bʷ, ɡʷ, ɡʲ/ are softened to fricatives [β, ɣ] and [βʷ, ɣʷ, ɣʲ] when preceding a glide, in medial-intervocalic position.
• /n/ becomes a labialized-velar [ŋʷ] when preceding a /w/.
• The palatalized /lʲ/ may also be heard in free variation, as a central glide [ɹ] or as a palatalized equivalent [ɹʲ].
• /n/ when palatalized is heard as a palatal nasal [ɲ], and is velar as [ŋ] when preceding velar consonants.

Varieties

Gbagye is also known as Gwari-Matai or Gwarin Ngenge, which are recently adopted cover terms.

There are two separate Gbagyi groups living in:

• Minna and Kuta (more prominent group)
• around Diko, northeast of Suleja

Gbagye is the only Nupoid language that has the bilabial implosive /ɓ/.

Gbagyi (also known as Gwari) is a cover term for all the Gbari-speaking peoples, and includes many varieties.

Gbari-Yama is a cover term used for all southern Gbari dialects. There are two closely related dialects, which are:

• Shigokpna
• Zubakpna

Gbedegi is an extinct language (possibly a Nupe dialect) spoken near Mokwa (Nadel 1941).