Jukpë

General information
The Jukpë language (English: [d͡ʒuːkpə], Jukpë: kìjúkpë [kìd͡ʒúk͡pə̥]) is the traditional language of the Jukpë people. It is spoken by around fifty thousand people in the north of Cameroon, eastern Nigeria, southern Chad and western Central African Republic. It is also by the Jukpë people, most notably in Britain, France and Cameroon.

Jukpë is an isolating language, has a simple syllable structure and lacks diphthongs. There are thirty-one consonants and six vowels; vowels have two tones, high (◌́) and low (◌̀). Word order is mainly SVO but occasionally SOV. Adpositions are prepositional and head direction is noun initial; that is that adjectives, numerals, demonstratives and genitives proceed the noun. Although Jukpë lacks grammatical gender there are six noun classes that do act as grammatical gender. There are also two numbers and Conjugations occur according to voice, mood, number, tense and aspect.

Consonants
Nasal
 * M m : [m] bilabial nasal
 * MH mh : [m̥] voiceless bilabial nasal
 * N n : [n] alveolar nasal
 * NH nh : [n̥] voiceless alveolar nasal
 * NY ny : [ɲ] palatal nasal
 * NYH nyh : [ɲ̊] voiceless palatal nasal
 * NG ng : [ŋ] velar nasal
 * NGH ngh : [ŋ̊] voiceless velar nasal

Plosive
 * P p : [p] voiceless bilabial plosive
 * B b : [b] voiced bilabial plosive
 * T t : [t] voiceless alveolar plosive
 * D d : [d] voiced alveolar plosive
 * TH th : [c] voiceless palatal plosive
 * DH dh : [ɟ] voiced palatal plosive
 * K k : [k] voiceless velar plosive
 * G g : [ɡ] voiced velar plosive
 * KP kp : [k͡p] voiceless labial-velar plosive
 * GB gb : [ɡ͡b] voiced labial-velar plosive

Fricative
 * F f : [f] voiceless labiodental fricative
 * V v : [v] voiced labiodental fricative
 * S s : [s] voiceless alveolar sibilant
 * Z z : [z] voiced alveolar fricative
 * KH kh : [x] voiceless velar fricative
 * GH gh : [ɣ] voiced velar fricative
 * Q q : [ʕ] voiced pharyngeal fricative
 * H h : [ɦ] voiced glottal fricative

Approximant
 * Y y : [j] palatal approximant

Trill
 * BR br : [ʙ] bilabial trill

Tap
 * R r : [ɾ] alveolar tap

Affricate
 * CH ch : [t͡ʃ] voiceless palato-alveolar affricate
 * J j : [d͡ʒ] voiced palato-alveolar affricate

Vowels

 * I i : [i] close front unrounded vowel
 * U u : [u] close back rounded vowel
 * O o : [o] close-mid back rounded central vowel
 * Ë ë : [ə̥] voiceless mid central vowel
 * E e : [ɛ] open-mid front unrounded vowel
 * A a : [a] open front unrounded vowel

All vowels except [ə̥] change according to tone.

Complete alphabet

 * A B BR CH D DH E Ë F G GB GH H I J K KH KP M MH N NG NGH NH NY NYH O P Q R S T TH U V Y Z
 * a b br ch d dh e ë f g gb gh h i j k kh kp m mh n ng ngh nh ny nyh o p q r s t th u v y z

N.B.: all digraphs and trigraphs are considered separate letters and whereas vowels with tonal marks are not.

Nouns
Though Jukpë does not have grammatical genders per se, there are six noun classes which are divided according to kind of word.

Adjectives
Adjectives agree with the noun they describe regarding noun class prefix. For example the base adjective "èdhék" ("red"), is shown below:

Verbs
Jukpë infinitive verbs begin with an infinitive prefix. There are six possible prefixes: "g(è)"-, "k(è)"-, "gh(ó)"-, "kh(ó)"-, "qù(b)"- and "hú(p)"-.

Conjugations occur by replacing the infinitive prefix with another that agrees with the subject in class and number. Suffixes are added according to person. Infixes are added to further conjugate verbs according to voice, mood, tense and aspect.

Tense

 * 1) Present: unmarked
 * 2) Past: -(í)l(í)-
 * 3) Future: -(á)z(á)-

Aspect

 * 1) Imperfective: unmarked
 * 2) Perfective: -(è)m(è)-
 * 3) Habitual: -(à)r(à)-

Mood

 * 1) Indicative: unmarked
 * 2) Conditional: -(ì)k(ì)-
 * 3) Interrogative: -(ù)t(ù)-
 * 4) Subjunctive: -(ë)t(ë)-
 * 5) Imperative: -(à)kh(à)-

Voice

 * 1) Active: unmarked
 * 2) Passive: -(d)ú(n)-
 * 3) Causative: -(è)ny(è)-
 * 4) Applicative: -(ì)ngh(ì)-
 * 5) Reflexive: -(s)á(m)-
 * 6) Reciprocal: -(r)ú(g)-

Tense

 * The present tense refers to an occurrence which is happening now or to an object that currently exists.
 * "He learns Jukpë"
 * The past tense refers to something that has happened or to an object that no longer exists.
 * "He has learnt Jukpë"
 * The future tense refers to an event that will happen or to something that will exist.
 * "He will learn Jukpë"

Aspect

 * The imperfective denotes an action or condition that does not have a fixed temporal boundary, but is unfinished, continuous or in progress.
 * "He was learning", "I am learning"
 * The perfective denotes a completed event.
 * "He learnt"
 * The habitual is similar to the imperfective, it denotes an action or condition that does not have a fixed temporal boundary, but is habitual or repetitive.
 * "I was learning", "I learn"

Mood

 * The indicative mood is used in ordinary factual or objective statements.
 * The conditional mood is used to signify that something is dependant upon the out-come of something else.
 * The interrogative mood is used for asking questions.
 * The subjunctive mood is used to express an action or state that is hypothetical or anticipated rather than actual, including wishes and commands.
 * The imperative mood is used to express orders.

Voice

 * The active voice
 * The passive voice
 * The causative voice
 * The applicative voice
 * The reflexive voice
 * The reciprocal voice