Bacama language

Bacama
Ɓwaare
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Adamawa State, Kogi State
Native speakers	300,000 (2020) [1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Chadic Biu–Mandara Bata (A.8) Bacama
Dialects	Mulyen Opalo Wa-Duku Demsa Bata
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bcy
Glottolog	baca1246   Bacama baca1245   Bacama-Yimburu

Bacama (Bachama) is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Chadic branch that is spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State principally in the Numan, Demsa and Lamurde Local Government Areas by the Bwatiye people. ^[2] The Dialects are Mulyen, Opalo, and Wa-Duku. Bachama-Yimburu appears to be a closely related but is a distinct language. Bachama is used as a trade language. ^[1] It is often considered the same language as Bata.

Numerals

Bachama has a decimal/quinary number system, with both 5 and 10 as bases: ^[3]

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
hido	kpe	mwakin	fwot	tuf	tukoltaka	tukolukpe	fwofwot	dombi hido	bau

8 is 4-4, 6 and 7 are based on adding to 5, and 9 means '(10) less 1'.

Example Texts in Bacama

• Gibo ma ḅa ḍa motso da Pwa tsi ne ndso-nogi ka nji-nogi ka nogi. - Mark 3:35 (GWVS 1915) ^[4]

Other Resources available in Bacama

Audio Recordings in Bacama

Notes

1. Bacama at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Carnochan, J (1967). "The Coming of the Fulani: A Bachama Oral Tradition" . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 30 (3). Cambridge University Press: 622–633. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00132082. JSTOR   612391. S2CID   144140973.
3. Matsushita, 'Decimal vs. Duodecimal'
4. "LinguaBank - Bachama". Archived from the original on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2022-06-27.