Doyayo language

Last updated
Doyayo
Dowayo
Region Cameroon
Native speakers
(15,000 cited 1994) [1]
Dialects
  • Sewe
Language codes
ISO 639-3 dow
Glottolog doya1240
PersonDoo²waa²³yɔ¹
LanguageDoo²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹

Doyayo (ethnonym: Dowayo) is a language of the Duru branch of Adamawa languages spoken in Cameroon.

Contents

Doyayo (Doo²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's mouth'; alternatively Doo²waa²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's child's mouth') is spoken by the Dowayo (or Doo²waa²³yɔ¹ 'man's child') ethnic group.

Names

According to ALCAM (2012), Doayo, which has 18,000 speakers, is the main language of the northern part of Poli commune (in Faro department, Northern Region). [2]

Taara is spoken in the mountains west of Poli, and Marka in the plains further northwest in Tcheboa commune, Bénoué department. [2]

The term Namchi, which means "crushed ones" or "those who crush [millet for us]" in Fulfulde, is a cover term that refers not only to the Doayo, but also its neighbors Duupa and Dugun (the latter two are both Dii languages). [2]

Joseph Greenberg's "Sewe" is in fact a variety of the Doayo language documented by Griaule. The name comes from the informant's village, Sewe. [2]

Dialects

Doyayo dialects are: [3]

(Note that there are two distinct Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ dialects.)

Blench (2004) considers the Sewe dialect to be a separate language, no more closely related to Dowayo than to Koma and Vere.

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References

  1. ↑ Doyayo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 3 4 Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM)[Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN   9789956796069.
  3. ↑ Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich (2015). Doyayo.
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