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 : [ʕ̝] 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 : [o̞] mid back rounded central vowel
 * Ë ë : [ə̥] voiceless mid central vowel
 * E e : [e̞] mid front unrounded vowel
 * A a : [a] open front unrounded vowel

All vowels except [ə̥] change according to tone.

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.

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

Comparatives
Comparative constructions using "more" place "kúbà" after the adjective. For example, "The dog is older [more old] than the bird" is translated as "[Ó] nájá nátímhójò nábrúnò kúbà [ó] nághùr".

Constructions using "less" use "dògú" after the adjective. For example, "The bird is younger [less old] than the bird" is translated as "[Ó] nághùr nátímhójò nábrúnò dògú [ó] nájá".

Constructions conveying equality, i.e. "as... as", place "mí" before the adjective and "mì" after it. For example, "The dog is as young as the bird" is translated as "[Ó] nájá nátímhójò mí námálònh mì [ó] nághùr".

Vocabulary:
 * dog: ájá
 * bird: ghùr
 * to be: gètímh
 * old: brúnò
 * young: málònh

Superlatives
To say superlatives using "most" the word "kùkúbà" follows the adjective.

Superlative using "least" use an adjective followed by "dódògú".

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)"-. For example "kèpár" means "to learn".

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) Reflexive: -(s)á(m)-
 * 5) Reciprocal: -(r)ú(g)-

Tense

 * The present tense refers to an occurrence which is happening now or to an object that currently exists.
 * "Mápárójò": "He is learning"
 * The past tense refers to something that has happened or to an object that no longer exists.
 * "Málípárójò": "He was learning"
 * The future tense refers to an event that will happen or to something that will exist.
 * "Mázápárójò": "He will learn"

Aspect

 * The imperfective denotes an action or condition that does not have a fixed temporal boundary, but is unfinished, continuous or in progress.
 * "Mápárójò": "He is learning"
 * "Málípárójò": "He was learning"
 * The perfective denotes a completed event.
 * "Málímèpárójò": "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.
 * "Máràpárójò": "He learns"
 * "Málíràpárójò": "He was learning"

Mood

 * The indicative mood is used in ordinary factual or objective statements.
 * "Mápárójò": "He is learning"
 * The conditional mood is used to signify that something is dependant upon the out-come of something else.
 * "Mákìpárójò": "He would learn"
 * The interrogative mood is used for asking questions.
 * "Mátùpárójò?": "Does he learn?"
 * The subjunctive mood is used to express an action or state that is hypothetical or anticipated rather than actual, including wishes and commands.
 * "It is necessary that mátëpárójò": "It is necessary that he learn"
 * The imperative mood is used to express orders.
 * "Mákhàpárójò": "Learn!"

Voice

 * The active voice is used to show that the subject of a verb carries out an action.
 * "Mápárójò": "He is learning"
 * The passive voice is used to show that the subject of a transitive verb receives an action.
 * "Mádúnyèpárójò": "He is being taught"
 * The causative voice is used to show that a subject causes someone or something else to do or become something or causes a change in state.
 * "Mányèpárójò": "He is teaching"
 * The reflexive voice is used to show that the subject of a verb carries out an action on itself.
 * "Mányèsápárójò": "He is teaching himself"
 * The reciprocal voice is used to show that the subject(s) of a verb perform an action on each other.
 * "Mányèrúpárójò": "They are teaching each other"

Articles
Jukpë articles are used extremely sparingly, usually only for emphasis and in formal contexts. The definite article "ó" corresponds to the English "the" and the indefinite article "ë" corresponds to "a(n)" and "some". Articles are invariable.