Wom language (Nigeria)

Wom
Perema
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Adamawa State
Native speakers	unknown (5,000 cited 1989)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Leko–Nimbari Leko Wom
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wom
Glottolog	womn1235[2]

Person	Pere
People	Pereba
Language	Perema

Wom, or Perema, is a Leko language of Nigeria.

Sound system

Consonants are

m	n			[ŋ]
b	d		ɟ	ɡ	ɡb ~ ɡʷ
p	t		c	k	kp ~ kʷ	(ʔ)
f v	s z	ʃ ʒ		x		(h)
	r
	l		j		w

/ŋ/, and only /ŋ/, appears geminate. /ʔ/ is rare, perhaps borrowed. /h/ is known from one word, not borrowed.

Vowels are /i e ɛ a ə ɔ o u/. All may be doubled, but there are no long vowels. /a/ is neutralized to /ə/ in all but final position.

Tone is probably high, low, and falling, as in Chamba Leko.

References

1. Wom at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Wom (Nigeria)". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

External links

• The Perema (Wom) language of northeastern Nigeria: classification, phonology and noun morphology (PDF) by Roger M. Blench, 2000. Mallam Dendo, Cambridge.