Karon language

For other uses, see Karon language (disambiguation).

Karon
Native to	Senegal, Gambia
Region	Southwest Senegal coast
Native speakers	15,000 (2007)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Bak Jola Jola Proper Karon–Mlomp Karon
Language codes
ISO 639-3	krx
Glottolog	karo1294

Kalɔɔn
Person	alɔɔn
Language	kägup kɔlɔɔnay

The Karon or Kalɔɔn[2] language is an endangered language of Senegal and Gambia. It belongs to the Bak branch of the Niger–Congo language family, and is particularly closely related to the Mlomp language.

Karon is spoken in a coastal area north of the mouth of the Casamance River. A person is called alɔɔn in the language, and speakers refer to their own language as kägup kɔlɔɔnay.[2]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless	p	t	tʃ	k	ʔ
	prenasal	ᵐp	ⁿt	ᶮtʃ	ᵑk
Nasal	plain	m	n	ɲ
	tense	mː		ɲː
Fricative		f	s			h
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

Vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	i iː	ĩ			u uː	ũ
Mid	e eː	ẽ			o oː	õ
Open			a aː	ã

Advanced tongue root is marked with an acute accent /á/.[3]

References

1. Karon at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
3. Sambou, Pierre (2002). Phonologie et elements de grammaire du jóola karon.

External links

• Karon entry in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages