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| Gula Iro | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Chad |
Native speakers | (3,500 cited 1991)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | glj |
| Glottolog | gula1265 |
TheGula Iro language (autonymkùláál) is aBua language spoken by some 3,500 people (in 1991) north and east ofLake Iro in southernChad, between theBola andSalamat rivers. It has four dialects, according to Pairault:
to whichEthnologue adds a fifth, Korintal (170 speakers), spoken inTieou.[1]
Gula Iro is very closely related toZan Gula andBon Gula, but they are not mutually comprehensible.
The consonants, along with their orthography, are:
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Apico-dental | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | p | t | ṭ | k | |||
| Fricatives | f | s | h | ||||
| Liquids | w | l | y | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ñ | ŋ | |||
| Trills | r |
The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ɛ, ɩ, ɔ, ʋ. Nasalization (only on a, e, o) and length are both contrastive, and diphthongs can be formed.Tone is phonemic; each vowel must carry high or low tone.
Typical word order issubject–verb–object. The basic subject pronouns are:ñó I,mó you (sg.),á he/she/it,pʋ́ we (exclusive),én we (inclusive),í you (pl.),ʋ́ they.
