Acheron language

Acheron (Asheron) is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in South Kordofan, Sudan.

Acheron
Asheron
Pronunciation	/ɡə-rəmɛ/
Native to	Sudan
Region	Nuba Hills
Native speakers	20,000 (2006)[1] 9,800 in home area (2006)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Kordofanian Talodi–Heiban Talodi Tocho languages Acheron
Dialects	Gathuk Gandok Garong
Language codes
ISO 639-3	acz
Glottolog	ache1245
ELP	Acheron
Acheron is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Acheron derives from the Arabic word aɟɟur-uun [sic] which means "innocent people",^[2] it was later "indigenised as /acʊrʊn/"^[3] and turned into /aʃərɔn/. The autoethonym in Acheron is /wɑ-rəmɛ/ for the people and /ɡə-rəmɛ/ for the language.^[2]

The number of active speakers is estimated to be 9,800.^[2] This number includes the community members and "diaspora speakers" in other Sudanese towns and abroad.^[2]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[4]

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar		Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	voiceless	pː	t̪ː			t		k	kː
	voiced	b	d̪			d	ɟ	g	gw
Fricative	voiceless			s	sː
	voiced		ð	z
Nasal	short	m				n	ɲ	ŋ
	long	mː				nː	ɲː	ŋː
Trill				r	rː
Tap						ɽ
Approximant	short					l	j	w
	long					lː		wː

Norton (2000) calls /s/ and /k/ "stiff cord" segments, saying they are always voiceless, with other short plosives and fricatives varying in voicing.^[4]

Vowels

Vowels^[5]

		Front	Central	Back
Close	[+ATR]	i		u
	[-ATR]	ɪ		ʊ
Mid		ɛ	ə	ɔ
Open			a

Norton (1995) posited 10 vowels: 5 [-ATR] /ɪ, ɛ, a, ɔ ʊ/ and 5 [+ATR] /i, e, ɜ, o, u/.^[6] However, Norton (2013) has 8 vowels: [-ATR] /ɪ, ɛ, ə, ɑ, ɔ, ʊ/ and [+ATR] /i u/.^[2]