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Defaka is an endangered and divergent Nigerian language of uncertain classification. It is spoken in the Opobo–Nkoro LGA of Rivers State, in the Defaka or Afakani ward of Nkọrọ town and Ịwọma Nkọrọ. The low number of Defaka speakers, coupled with the fact that other languages dominate the region where Defaka is spoken, edges the language near extinction on a year-to-year basis. It is generally classified in an Ijoid branch of the Niger–Congo family. However, the Ijoid proposal is problematic. Blench (2012) notes that "Defaka has numerous external cognates and might be an isolate or independent branch of Niger–Congo which has come under Ịjọ influence."
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 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.
The Kainji languages are a group of about 60 related languages spoken in west-central Nigeria. They form part of the Central Nigerian (Platoid) branch of Benue–Congo.
The twenty Central Plateau languages are a residual branch of the Plateau family spoken in central Nigeria. Tyap has over 200,000 speakers, and the closely related Jju has well over 300,000. Hyam has another 100,000. Cori is famous for being one of very few languages with six tone levels, though only three are needed for writing.
The Jukunoid languages are a branch of the Benue-Congo languages spoken by the Jukun and related peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon. They are distributed mostly throughout Taraba State, Nigeria and surrounding regions.
The Atyap people are an ethnic group found majorly in Zangon-Kataf, Kaura and Jema'a Local Government Areas of southern Kaduna State, Nigeria. They speak the Tyap language, one of the Central Plateau languages.
The East Kainji languages are spoken in a compact area of the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, near Jos. There are more than 20 of them, most of which are poorly studied.
Mbe is a language spoken by the Mbube people of the Ogoja, Cross River State region of Nigeria, numbering about 65,000 people in 2011. As the closest relative of the Ekoid family of the Southern Bantoid languages, Mbe is fairly close to the Bantu languages. It is tonal and has a typical Niger–Congo noun-class system.
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.
Hyam is a regionally important linguistic cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria. Hyam of Nok is the prestige dialect. Writing the sociolinguistics of Hyam, Blench treats Sait, and Dzar as distinct varieties, and notes that Yat and Ankung may be viewed as separate languages, however, Hayab (2016) presents a differing opinion arguing that it is Ankung, a language called Iduya, that is not mutually intelligible to Hyam. Meanwhile, Hyam, which is spoken by the Ham people of Nigeria, popularly known as 'Jaba' in a recent study by Philip Hayab, a native of the area and a linguist who carried out in-depth research into the language, reveals that 'Jaba' has a Hausa etymology and is derogatory and should be discarded.
The Kulu language, Ikulu, also known as Ankulu or Ikolu, is a Plateau language of Nigeria. It is spoken by the Bakulu, found in the Zangon Kataf, Kachia and Kauru Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
Tyap is a regionally important dialect cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria's Middle Belt, named after its prestige dialect. It is also known by its Hausa exonym as Katab or Kataf. It is also known by the names of its dialectical varieties including Sholyio, Fantswam, Gworok, Takad, "Mabatado", Tyeca̱rak and Tyuku (Tuku). In spite of being listed separately from the Tyap cluster, Jju's separation, according to Blench R.M. (2018), seems to be increasingly ethnic rather than a linguistic reality.
The Jju people, or Ba̠jju (exonyms: Hausa: Kajje; Tyap: A̱jhyuo, are an ethnic group found in the Middle Belt area of Nigeria. The word Ba̠jju is a short for "Ba̠nyet Jju" which simply means "Jju People" and is used to refer to the speakers of the Jju language found in the Ka̠jju, the homeland of the Jju people. They are found in the Southern part of Kaduna State, chiefly in Kachia, Zangon Kataf, Jama'a and in Kaduna South Local Government Areas. Ba̠jju people are also commonly known as "Kaje" which is a pejorative name used to refer to both the Jju people and Jju language by the larger Hausa people who could not pronounce the name Ka̠jju well. The Ba̠jju people are predominantly farmers, hunters, blacksmiths and petty traders.
Atsam, is a Kainji language of Nigeria. It is spoken by the Atsam people, mainly found in Kauru LGA of Kaduna State and Bassa LGA of Plateau State, Middle Belt, Nigeria.
Nincut (Aboro) is a Plateau language of Kaduna State, Nigeria belonging to the Beromic branch. Blench estimates 5,000 speakers in 2003. It is spoken 7 km north of Fadan Karshe in Kaduna State. Nincut is not recorded in Ethnologue or Glottolog.
Nigbo is an extinct Plateau language of Nigeria. It was spoken near Agameti on the Fadan Karshi-Wamba road near Sanga LGA, Kaduna State. The language, listed in Blench (2012) and (2019), is not reported in Ethnologue or Glottolog. It is presumably an Alumic language based on its proximity to Akpondu, a language closely related to Alumu and Tesu.
Ajuwa (Ajegha) is a Plateau language of Kaduna State, Nigeria. It is spoken in Kalla, Afogo, Iburu, Idon, and Makyali towns. Ajuwa was reported by Roger Blench (2019), but is not reported in Ethnologue or Glottolog. Blench classifies it as Northwestern.
Southern Kaduna is an area of the Nok Culture region inhabited by primarily various non-Hausa speaking peoples living south of Zaria, Kaduna State. It is located in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. Southern Kaduna consists of 12 Local Government Areas out of a total of 23 in Kaduna State. Some view it as being less of a geographical identity and more of an ethnic identity concept.
Moro is an East Kainji language of Nigeria belonging to the Shammo cluster.
References
- 1 2 3 Jju at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ↑ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- ↑ "Glottolog 3.0 - Bajju". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2017-05-05.[ permanent dead link ]
- ↑ Blench, Roger M. (2018). Watters, John R. (ed.). East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs (Niger-Congo Comparative Studies 1) [Nominal affixes and number marking in the Plateau languages]. Berlin: Language Science Press. pp. 128–129. ISBN 9783961101009 . Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ↑ McKinney, Norris P. (April 1990). "Temporal characteristics of fortis stops and affricates in Tyap and Jju". Journal of Phonetics. 18 (2): 255–266. doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30392-4. ISSN 0095-4470.
