Mantsi language (Nigeria)
Mantsi (also known as Ma’as or Mangas) is an endangered Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Mangas town in Bauchi State, Nigeria.[1] Blench (2020) reports that it is also called Mantsi. According to Blench, the structure of Mantsi differs significantly from the other South Bauchi languages.[2]
| Mantsi | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Bauchi State |
Native speakers | (100 cited 1995)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | zns |
| Glottolog | mang1416 |
| ELP | Mangas |
| Mantsi | |
|---|---|
| People | mántsì |
| Language | pʲìk mántsì |
Word lists of Mantsi had previously been published in Kiyoshi Shimizu's (1978) South Bauchi survey, which first mentioned the existence of the language.[3] An unpublished word list was also recorded by Ronald Cosper (n.d.).[4]
Names
Mantsi speakers refer to their language as Pyik Mantsi [pʲìk mántsì], and to themselves as the Mantsi [mántsì] people. Although there are fewer than 1,000 speakers, the language is still being spoken by children.[2]
Demographics
Mantsi is spoken in the single village of Mantsi (locally known as Maɗana [mánànā] or Ma’as [màʔās]) in the southern part of Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State. The Kir [Kyiir] and Laar peoples, who speak closely related but distinct languages, live just to the northeast of Mantsi village in the nearby villages of Kir and Laar, respectively.[2]
Classification
Mantsi belongs to the Kir branch of the South Bauchi languages. It is most closely related to Kir and Laar, as shown by the lexical comparisons below.[2]
| Gloss | Mantsi | Kir | Laar |
|---|---|---|---|
| ash | múrə̀m | ŋúreŋ | ŋŋoro |
| bird | ɗōōr | dot | ɗwoot |
| blood | púrùm | pirə̀ŋ | firàŋ |
| bone | gùl | gwàŋàl | gwaŋal |
| fat | gìndɨ́r | yində̀r | yində̀r |
| leg | wāsɨ̄m | wasəm | wasəm |
| moon | pʲāŋ | pyaŋ | pyaŋ |
| mountain | lamba | lamba | lamba |
| stone | pʲār | pyat | pyat |
| kill | túk | tuk | tuk |
Mantsi also has some lexical innovations, which are:
| Gloss | Mantsi |
|---|---|
| fish | kʲáálòŋ |
| night | dāːhùr |
| path | da᷄n |
| nine | krōmsā |
Phonology
Mantsi has 3 level tones, as well as rising and falling contour tones.[2]
Grammar
Number is not marked morphologically.[2]
Lexicon
Plants and animals
Some Mantsi names of plants and animals:[2]
Numerals
Mantsi numerals:[2]
| Gloss | Mantsi |
|---|---|
| one | nə̄m |
| two | ɗīːn |
| three | wéːn |
| four | úpsí |
| five | tūːn |
| six | màɣà |
| seven | ɲíngí |
| eight | gàːmfí |
| nine | krōmsā |
| ten | zúp |
| eleven | sūlūŋ nə᷄m |
Notes
- Mantsi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- Blench, Roger. 2020. An introduction to Mantsi, a South Bauchi language of Central Nigeria.
- Shimizu, Kiyoshi 1978. The Southern Bauchi Group of Chadic Languages: A survey report. Coll. Africana Marburgensia, n° 2 (Special Issue).
- Cosper, Ronald n.d. Wordlist of South Bauchi (West Chadic) languages ; Boghom, Mangas, Buli, Dott, Geji, Jimi, Polci, Sayanci, Zul. ms.