Reel language

Reel
Reel
Thuɔk ë Rëël
Native to	South Sudan
Ethnicity	Atwot
Native speakers	116,000 (2017)
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Eastern Sudanic Nilotic Western Dinka–Nuer Nuer Reel; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	atu
Glottolog	reel1238
ELP	Reel

Reel, or Atwot, is a Nilotic language of South Sudan that is closely related to Nuer. They call themselves Reel; Atwot is their Dinka name.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[2]
		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n̪	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	Voiceless	p	t̪	t	c	k	ʔ
Plosive	Voiced	b	d̪	d	ɟ	ɡ
Trill				r
Approximant		w		lʲ	j

/t̪/ alternates with [s], /c/ with [ç], and /p/ with [ɸ].^[3] /ʔ/ becomes [ɦ] near breathy vowels.^[4]

Vowels

Vowels^[5]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Low		a

Reid (2010) finds seven vowel phonemes, considering voice quality and vowel length as suprasegmental distinctions.^[6] Vowels have two voice qualities (modal and breathy)^[7] and three lengths (short, long, and overlong).^[8]

Tones

Reel has three tones—high, low, and falling.^[9]

Notes

^ Reel at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
^ Reid 2010, p. 36.
^ Reid 2010, p. 37.
^ Reid 2010, p. 38.
^ Reid 2010, pp. 54, 64.
^ Reid 2010, p. 54.
^ Reid 2010, p. 55.
^ Reid 2010, p. 56.
^ Reid 2010, p. 117.

References

Reid, Tatiana (2010). Aspects of phonetics, phonology and morphophonology of Thok Reel (MSc thesis). University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/5312.

[e26-1] Reel at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)

[FOOTNOTEReid201036-2] Reid 2010, p. 36.

[FOOTNOTEReid201037-3] Reid 2010, p. 37.

[FOOTNOTEReid201038-4] Reid 2010, p. 38.

[FOOTNOTEReid201054,_64-5] Reid 2010, pp. 54, 64.

[FOOTNOTEReid201054-6] Reid 2010, p. 54.

[FOOTNOTEReid201055-7] Reid 2010, p. 55.

[FOOTNOTEReid201056-8] Reid 2010, p. 56.

[FOOTNOTEReid2010117-9] Reid 2010, p. 117.

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