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Hausa is a Chadic language that is spoken by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast.
The number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated at between 1,250 and 2,100, and by some counts at over 3,000. Nigeria alone has over 500 languages, one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world. The languages of Africa belong to many distinct language families, among which the largest are:
Kanuri is a Saharan dialect continuum of the Nilo–Saharan language family spoken by the Kanuri and Kanembu peoples in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as by a diaspora community residing in Sudan.
The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, they are spoken in the cities of Timbuktu, Djenné, Niamey and Gao. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the era of the Songhai Empire. In Mali, the government has officially adopted the dialect of Gao as the dialect to be used as a medium of primary education.
The Kanuri people are an African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Kanem and Bornu Empires in Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon. As well as a diaspora community residing in Sudan. Those generally termed Kanuri include several subgroups and dialect groups, some of whom identify as distinct from the Kanuri. Most trace their origins to ruling lineages of the medieval Kanem-Bornu Empire, and its client states or provinces. In contrast to the neighboring Toubou or Zaghawa pastoralists, Kanuri groups have traditionally been sedentary, engaging in farming, fishing the Chad Basin, trade, and salt processing.
Daza is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Daza people inhabiting northern Chad and eastern Niger. The Daza are also known as the Gouran (Gorane) in Chad. Dazaga is spoken by around 700,000 people, primarily in the Djurab Desert region and the Borkou region, locally called Haya or Faya-Largeau northern-central Chad, the capital of the Dazaga people. Dazaga is spoken in the Tibesti Mountains of Chad, in eastern Niger near N'guigmi and to the north. It is also spoken to a smaller extent in Libya and in Sudan, where there is a community of 3,000 speakers in the city of Omdurman. There's also a small diaspora community working in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Fula, also known as Fulani or Fulah, is a Senegambian language spoken by around 36.8 million people as a set of various dialects in a continuum that stretches across some 18 countries in West and Central Africa. Along with other related languages such as Serer and Wolof, it belongs to the Atlantic geographic group within Niger–Congo, and more specifically to the Senegambian branch. Unlike most Niger-Congo languages, Fula does not have tones.
Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west for about 421 km, Gombe to the southwest for 93 km, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon for about 426 km, its northern border forms part of the national border with Niger, for about 223 km mostly across the Komadougou-Yobe River, and its northeastern border forms all of the national border with Chad for 85 km, being the only Nigerian state to border three foreign countries. It takes its name from the historic emirate of Borno, with the emirate's old capital of Maiduguri serving as the capital city of Borno State. The state was formed in 1976 when the former North-Eastern State was broken up. It originally included the area that is now Yobe State, which became a distinct state in 1991.
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English, which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin – an English-based creole – is spoken by 30 million people in Nigeria.
Bade is a West Chadic language spoken by the Bade people in Yobe State and Jigawa State, Nigeria. Their traditional ruler is the Emir of Bade. Similar to many other Western African languages, Bade is a vulnerable language at great risk of extinction. With 356,000 speakers, the language and the culture of the Bade people have suffered over the last several years. As the language continues to fade, the culture and historic value associated with the language perishes as well. The local dialect is shifting from Bade to Hausa. Across West Africa, the impact on local communities through the loss of the indigenous tongues will be significant. The endangerment of the Bade language represents the worldwide language diversity that is at risk. Many African languages have only received little linguistic attention, impacting these African languages.
Chadian Arabic, also known as Shuwa Arabic, Western Sudanic Arabic, or West Sudanic Arabic (WSA), is a variety of Arabic and the first language of 1.6 million people, both town dwellers and nomadic cattle herders. Most of its speakers live in central and southern Chad. Its range is an east-to-west oval in the Sahel. Nearly all of this territory is within Chad and Sudan. It is also spoken elsewhere in the vicinity of Lake Chad in the countries of Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. Finally, it is spoken in slivers of the Central African Republic. In addition, this language serves as a lingua franca in much of the region. In most of its range, it is one of several local languages and often not among the major ones.
Toposa is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in South Sudan by the Toposa people. Mutually intelligible language varieties include Jiye of South Sudan, Nyangatom of Ethiopia, Karimojong, Jie and Dodos of Uganda and Turkana of Kenya. Teso is lexically more distant.
Wandala, also known as Mandara or Mura', is a language in the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria.
Manga Kanuri is a variety of the Kanuri language a Nilo-Saharan language of the Saharan branch. Manga Kanuri is spoken mainly in Niger in the regions of Zinder and Diffa along the Nigerian and Chadian borders. It also spoken by a significant number of speakers in Nigeria. Manga Kanuri is the second largest variety of the Kanuri language and is used as a trade language in Niger. It has two main dialects, Manga, and Dagara.
Tumari Kanuri, also known as Kanembu in Niger, is a variety of the Kanuri language, a Nilo-Saharan language of the Saharan branch. It is spoken in Niger by approximately 103,000 speakers in the Diffa Region of southeast Niger, near the border with Chad and Nigeria. Tumari Kanuri is closely related to the Movar dialect of Yerwa Kanuri.
Bilma Kanuri is a variety of the Kanuri language which is a Nilo-Saharan language belonging to the Saharan branch of the language family. It is spoken in Niger mainly in the Agadez Region by the Bilma Kanuri subgroup, and is named after the town of Bilma. The variety is one of the smaller varieties of Kanuri in terms of the number of speakers.
Western Niger Fulfulde is a variety of the Fula language, spoken mainly in Niger, and Burkina Faso, as well as by a small number of speakers in Benin by 3 million people. It has SOV word order and is closely related to other varieties of Fula spoken in Niger.
Nigerian Fulfulde, also known as Hausa States Fulfulde, Fula, or Fulani is a variety of the Fula language spoken by the Fulani people in Nigeria, particularly in the Northern region of Nigeria. It belongs to the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Phonologically, Nigerian Fulfulde exhibits a system of vowel harmony and a relatively simple consonant inventory, including stops, fricatives, and nasal sounds.
Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde is a variety of the Fula language, a Niger–Congo language predominantly spoken in the Central and Eastern regions of Niger, particularly among the Fulani people. The linguistic structure of this language exhibits distinct features, including a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order. Prepositions and postpositions are utilized in the language to convey spatial relationships. Genitives, articles, adjectives, numerals, and relatives follow noun heads, contributing to the overall complexity of sentence structures. The language employs a question-word-final pattern, placing question words at the end of interrogative sentences. Additionally, there is a specific set of affixes, comprising one prefix and nine suffixes, which play a crucial role in marking number and subject in verbs.
References
- ↑ Central Kanuri at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ↑ "Kanuri Studies Association". 2004. Archived from the original on November 8, 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ "Kanuri language | Kanuri language | West African, Niger-Congo, Chadic | Britannica". www.britannica.com.
- 1 2 "Kanuri, Yerwa | Ethnologue Free".
- 1 2 3 4 5 Benton P.A, Frank Cass (1968). The Languages and Peoples of Bornu. pp. 66–88. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
