Related Research Articles
The forty or so Plateau languages are a tentative group of Benue–Congo languages spoken by 15 million people on the Jos Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Nasarawa State and in adjacent areas in central Nigeria.
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The Nigerian official language is English, the language of former colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian Pidgin was spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nigeria.
Ngas, or Angas, is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. The language has two dialects: Hill Angas and Plain Angas. Retired General Yakubu Gowon is a prominent Nigerian who is of Ngas extraction.
Ɓeele is an endangered Afro-Asiatic language spoken in a few villages in Bauchi State, Nigeria.
Tarok is a regionally important Plateau language in the Langtang area of southeast Plateau State, Nigeria, where it serves as a local lingua franca. Blench (2004) estimates around 150,000 speakers.
The Nyingwom or Kam language is a Niger-Congo language spoken in eastern Nigeria. Blench (2019) lists speakers residing in the main villages of Mayo Kam and Kamajim in Bali LGA, Taraba State. Lesage reports that Kam is spoken in 27 villages of Bali LGA.
Zeem, or Chaari, is an endangered Chadic dialect cluster of Nigeria, whose speakers are shifting to Hausa. Dyarim is closely related.
Kwah (Kwa), also known as Baa (Bàː), is a Niger–Congo language of uncertain affiliation; the more it has been studied, the more divergent it appears. Joseph Greenberg counted it as one of the Bambukic languages of the Adamawa family. Boyd (1989) assigned it its own branch within Waja–Jen. Kleinewillinghöfer (1996) removed it from Waja–Jen as an independent branch of Adamawa. When Blench (2008) broke up Adamawa, Kwah became a provisional independent branch of his larger Savannas family.
Daka is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people in Nigeria, the other being Chamba Leko.
Ahwai, also called the Ndunic languages, is a Plateau language cluster spoken to the southwest of Fadan Karshi in Sanga LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Most villages are located at the foot of the Ahwai Mountains in Kaduna State.
Toro, also known as Turkwam, is a Plateau language of Nigeria. It has lost the nominal affix system characteristic of the Niger–Congo family.
Izere is a dialect continuum of Plateau languages in Nigeria. According to Blench (2008), it is four languages, though Ethnologue does not distinguish NW and NE Izere. The Cen and Ganang varieties are spoken by only 2000 each. Cen has added Berom noun-class prefixes and consonant alternation to an Izere base.
Geji (Gezawa) is a minor Chadic dialect cluster of Bauchi State, Nigeria. The three varieties are Buu, Gyaazi and Mәgang. The latter two are quite close.
Ju is a language from the West Chadian branch of the Chadic language family. The language is spoken solely in Nigeria, and had approximately 900 native speakers in 1993. The language is unwritten.
Sur (Nsur), or Tapshin, is a minor Plateau language of Tapshin village in Bauchi State, Nigeria.
Kpasam is an Adamawa language of Demsa LGA, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Iyive, also referred to as Uive, Yiive, Ndir, Asumbos, is a severely endangered Bantoid language spoken in Nigeria and Cameroon. The ethnic group defined by use of this language is the Ndir.
Lere is a nearly extinct Kainji dialect cluster of Nigeria. The ethnic population was cited as 16,000 in 2000, of whom only a few speak the language. A wordlist from the Takaya dialect can be found under External links.
Ziriya (Jiriya) and Sheni (Shaini) constitute a Kainji language of Nigeria. They are geographically but perhaps not linguistically distinct.
Gyem is a Kainji language of Bauchi State, Nigeria.
References
- ↑ Ayu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ Blench, Roger (2001). "Foundation for Endangered Languages". ogmios. Retrieved December 26, 2021.