Languages of the Gambia
Languages of Senegal
| Official language | |
|---|---|
| National languages | |
| Indigenous languages | |
| Karon | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Senegal, Gambia |
| Region | Southwest Senegal coast |
Native speakers | 15,000 (2007)[1] |
| 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]
| 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 | ||||
| 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]