Jukunoid | |
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Geographic distribution | Nigeria, Cameroon |
Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
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Glottolog | juku1257 |
The Jukunoid languages shown within Nigeria and Cameroon |
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.
Their asymmetrical nasal consonants are atypical for West Africa, as can be seen in Wapan.
Gerhardt (1983) and Güldemann (2018) suggest that Jukunoid may actually be part of the Plateau languages, as it shares similarities with various Plateau groups, especially Tarokoid. [1] [2] However, Blench (2005) argues that Jukunoid is clearly separate from Plateau. [3]
The following classification is from Glottolog; [4] the Kororofa branch has been added from Ethnologue (Glottolog classifies the Kororofa languages as Jukun): [5]
Ethnologue adds the Yukubenic branch of the Plateau languages as part of a Yukubenic-Kuteb group [5] based on Shimizu (1980), and Blench also follows this classification. [6] Ethnologue also leaves the Wurbo language Shoo-Minda-Nye as unclassified within Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo, and includes the unclassified Benue–Congo language Tita in its place. [5]
Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019). [8]
Language | Branch | Cluster | Dialects | Alternate spellings | Own name for language | Endonym(s) | Other names (location-based) | Other names for language | Exonym(s) | Speakers | Location(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akum | Anyar | 3 villages in Nigeria; 600 in Cameroon (1976) | Taraba State, ca. 6°50N, 9°50E | |||||||||
Bete | 50 (2002) | Taraba State, Wukari LGA, Bete town | no data | |||||||||
Nyifon | Iordaa | 1000 (CAPRO n.d. but probably 1990s) | Buruku LGA, Benue State | no data | ||||||||
Jan Awei | Jan Awei | 12 ? (1997) | Gombe State, West of Muri mountains, North of the Benue (precise location unknown) | |||||||||
Jukun cluster | Jukun | Njuku | Njikun | 35,000 (1971 Welmers); [9] 1700 in Cameroon (1976) | Taraba State, Wukari, Takum, Bali and Sardauna LGAs; Nasarawa State, Awe and Lafia LGAs; Plateau State, Shendam and Langtang South LGAs; Benue State, Makurdi LGA; and in Furu-Awa subdivision, Cameroon | |||||||
Jibu | Jukun | Gayam, Garbabi | 25,000 (1987 SIL) | Taraba State, Gashaka LGA | ||||||||
Takum-Donga | Jukun | Takum, Donga | Jibu | Second language speakers only 40,000 (1979 UBS) | Taraba State, Takum, Sardauna and Bali LGAs | |||||||
Wase Tofa | Jukun | Plateau State, Shendam and Langtang South LGAs | ||||||||||
Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo group | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | |||||||||||
Kororofa cluster | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Kororofa | Jukun | more than 62,000 (SIL) | ||||||||
Abinsi | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Kororofa | Wapan | River Jukun | Taraba State, Wukari LGA, at Sufa and Kwantan Sufa; Benue State, Makurdi LGA, at Abinsi | |||||||
Wapan | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Kororofa | Wapan | Wukari and Abinsi | 60,000 (1973 SIL) | Taraba State, Wukari LGA; Nasarawa State, Awe and Lafia LGAs; Plateau State, Shendam and Langtang South LGAs (precise areas uncertain) | ||||||
Hone | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Kororofa | Kona | 2,000 (1977 Voegelin & Voegelin) | Taraba State, Karim Lamido LGA; Plateau State, Wase LGA. Villages north and west of Jalingo | |||||||
Dampar | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Kororofa | Taraba State, Wukari LGA, at Dampar | |||||||||
Mbembe Tigong cluster | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Mbembe Tigong | Noale | Tigong, Tigun, Tugun, Tukun, Tigum | Akonto, Nzare | 2,900 in Nigeria (1973 SIL) | Taraba State, Sardauna LGA; mainly in Cameroon | |||||
Ashuku | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Mbembe Tigong | Ashaku | Ákә́tsә̀kpә́, Ákúcùkpú | Kitsipki | |||||||
Nama | Jukun–Mbembe–Wurbo | Mbembe Tigong | Dama, Namu | Kporo | Nzare ‘I say so’; Eneeme | |||||||
Shoo–Minda–Nye cluster | Wurbo | Shoo–Minda–Nye | May be related to Jessi spoken between Lau and Lankoviri | 10,000 (SIL) | Taraba State, Karim Lamido LGA | |||||||
Shoo | Wurbo | Shoo–Minda–Nye | Shóó | dàŋ Shóó | Nwii Shóó | Banda, Bandawa | ||||||
Minda | Wurbo | Shoo–Minda–Nye | Jinleri | |||||||||
Nye | Wurbo | Shoo–Minda–Nye | Nyé | Nyé | Nwi Nyé | Kunini | ||||||
Jiru | Wurbo | Zhiru | Atak, Wiyap, Kir | Taraba State, Karim Lamido LGA | ||||||||
Etkywan | Kpan–Icen | Icen, Ichen, Itchen | Kentu, Kya)tõ, Kyanton, Nyidu | 6,330 in Donga district (1952 W&B); [10] more than 7,000 (1973 SIL) | Taraba State, Takum and Sardauna LGAs | |||||||
Kpan | Kpan–Icen | Western and Eastern groups: Western: 1 Kumbo–Takum Group: Kumbo (Kpanzon), Takum; 2 Donga (Akpanzhĩ; 3 Bissaula (extinct) Eastern: Apa (per Kilham), Kente, Eregba (per Koelle) | Kpanten, Ikpan, Akpanzhi, Kpanzon, Abakan | Kpwate, Hwaye, Hwaso, Nyatso, Nyonyo, Yorda, Ibukwo | Taraba State, Wukari, Takum and Sardaunda LGAs | |||||||
Como–Karim | Wurbo | Shomoh, Shomong, Chomo, Shomo | Karim, Kirim | Kiyu, Nuadhu | Taraba State, Karim Lamido and Jalingo LGAs | |||||||
Tita | Wurbo | Taraba State, Jalingo LGA, at Hoai Petel | Blench was not able to identify the people or the location, though Meek had data showing it to be Jukunoid. |
Comparison of numerals in individual languages: [11]
Classification | Language | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jukun-Mbembe-Wurbo, Jukun | Hõne (Pindiga/Gwana) | zùŋ | pyèːnè | sáːré | nyẽ́ | sɔ́nɛ́ | sùnjé | sùnpyèːnè | hūnnè | sīnyáu | dùb |
Jukun-Mbembe-Wurbo, Jukun | Jibu | zyun | pyànà | sàra | yina | swana | sùnjin | sùmpyànn | awùyin | ajunndúbi | dwib |
Jukun-Mbembe-Wurbo, Jukun | Wapa (Wãpha) | zùŋ | pyĩ̀ | sā / sārā | nyìnā | swã̄nā | ʃẽ̀ʒí | sémpyè | sẽ̄sá | sínyáu | ádùb |
Jukun-Mbembe-Wurbo, Kororofa | Jiba (Jibe / Kona) | zũ̀ː | pyèːnà | sàːr | nyè | són | sùnʒé | sùmpyèːnà | húhúnyè | zōrhōnnì | dùb |
Jukun-Mbembe-Wurbo, Kororofa | Wapan Jukun | dzun | pyìnà | tsara | nyena | tswana | cìnjen / ʃìʒen (5+ 1) | tsùpyìn (5+ 2) | tsùntsa (5+ 3) | tsùnyò (5+ 4) | dzwe |
Jukun-Mbembe-Wurbo, Mbembe | Tigon Mbembe | nzo | pya | sra | nyɛ | tʃwɔ́ | tʃwɔ́mbazo (5+ 1) | tʃwɔ́mbapya (5+ 2) | ɛ́nyɛnyɛ (2 x 4) ?? | tʃwɔ́mnyɛ (5+ 4) | dʒé |
Yukuben-Kuteb | Akum | ájì | afã̀ | ata | aɲɪ̀ | acóŋ | acóŋ jì (5+ 1) | acóŋ afã̀ (5+ 2) | acóŋ ata (5+ 3) | acóŋ ɲì (5+ 4) | īkùr(ù) |
Yukuben-Kuteb | Kapya | ūŋɡēmé | īfɡɔ̀ | ītà | īɲɨɪ̀ | ìtú | tú ŋɡì (5+ 1) | tú ófɡõ (5+ 2) | tú àtà (5+ 3) | tú īɲɨɪ̀ (5+ 4) | èbʲí / èbzí |
Yukuben-Kuteb | Kuteb (Kutev) (1) | kínzō | ífaẽ | ítā | índʒē | ítsóŋ | ítsóŋ-ndʒō (5+ 1) | ítsóŋ-ífaẽ (5+ 2) | ítsóŋ-ítā (5+ 3) | ítsóŋ-ndʒē (5+ 4) | ridʒwēr |
Yukuben-Kuteb | Kuteb (Kutev) (2) | kínzō | ifaen | itā | inje | itsóŋ | itsóŋ-nzō (5+ 1) | itsóŋ-faen (5+ 2) | itsóŋ-tā (5+ 3) | itsóŋ-nje (5+ 4) | rijwēr |
Yukuben-Kuteb | Yukuben | kítə́ŋ | āpá(ŋ) | ātà, ārà | ēnzì | otòŋ | (ō)̄tòŋ kíhín (5+ 1) | (ō)̄tòŋ āpá (5+ 2) | (ō)̄tòŋ ātà / ārà (5+ 3) | (ō)̄tòŋ ēnzì (5+ 4) | kùr |
Benue–Congo is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Lufu language is a Yukubenic language of Nigeria is a language still spoken mostly by older adults among the Lufu people of the Takum Local Government Authority, Taraba State; its speakers have mostly shifted to Jukun. It is close to Bete.
The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in Central Africa, in northern Cameroon, north-western Central African Republic, southern Chad, and eastern Nigeria, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people. Joseph Greenberg classified them as one branch of the Adamawa–Ubangi family of Niger–Congo languages. They are among the least studied languages in Africa, and include many endangered languages; by far the largest is Mumuye, with 400,000 speakers. A couple of unclassified languages—notably Laal and Jalaa—are found along the fringes of the Adamawa area.
The Atlantic–Congo languages comprise the largest demonstrated family of languages in Africa. They have characteristic noun class systems and form the core of the Niger–Congo family hypothesis. They comprise all of Niger–Congo apart from Mande, Dogon, Ijoid, Siamou, Kru, the Katla and Rashad languages, and perhaps some or all of the Ubangian languages. Hans Gunther Mukanovsky's "Western Nigritic" corresponded roughly to modern Atlantic–Congo.
Taraba is a state in north-eastern Nigeria; named after the Taraba River, which traverses the southern part of the state, it is known as "Nature's Gift to the Nation". Its capital is Jalingo. The state's main ethnic groups are the Fulani, Mumuye, Mambilla, Jukun, Kuteb, Karimjo Wurkun, Yandang, Ndola, Ichen, Jenjo, Tiv, Tigon, and Jibu. The northern part is mainly dominated by the Fulani, Wurkun and Mumuye. The southern part is dominated by the Jukun, Chamba, Tiv, Kuteb and Ichen. The central region is mainly occupied by the Fulani, Mambilla, Ndola, Tigon, Jibu, Wurbo, and Daka people. There are about 80 distinct ethnic groups and their languages in the state.
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.
Eggon, erroneously referred to as Mada - formerly a Plateau language spoken in central Nigeria. It is one of the major language in Nasarawa State.
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 over 60 million people.
Jukun are an ethno-linguistic group or ethnic nation in West Africa. The Jukun are traditionally located in Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe States in Nigeria and parts of northwestern Cameroon. They are descendants of the people of Kwararafa. Most of the tribes in the north central of Nigeria trace their origin to the Jukun people and are related in one way or the other to the Jukuns. Until the coming of both Christianity and Islam, the Jukun people were followers of their own traditional religions. Most of the tribes, Alago, Agatu, Rendere, Goemai in Shendam, and others left Kwararafa when it disintegrated as a result of a power tussle. The Jukuns are divided into two major groups; the Jukun Wanu and Jukun Wapa. The Jukun Wanu are fishermen residing along the banks of the river Benue and Niger where they run through Taraba State, Benue State and Nasarawa State. The Wukari Federation, headed by the Aku Uka of Wukari, is now the main centre of the Jukun people.
Lunguda (Nʋngʋra) is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Nigeria. They settle western part of Gongola mainly in and around the hills of the volcanic Lunguda Plateau, Adamawa state. Joseph Greenberg counted it as a distinct branch, G10, within the Adamawa family. When Blench (2008) broke up Adamawa, Lunguda was made a branch of the Bambukic languages.
The Siamou language, also known as Seme (Sɛmɛ), is a language spoken mainly in Burkina Faso. It is part of the Kru languages or unclassified within the proposed Niger–Congo languages. It is also spoken in Ivory Coast and Mali, and could likely be a language isolate.
Genesis sanda from Takum LGA taraba state
Lafofa, also Tegem–Amira, is a dialect cluster spoken in the southern Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. Blench (2010) considers the Tegem and Amira varieties to be distinct languages; as Lafofa is poorly attested, there may be others.
Nalu is an Atlantic language of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, spoken by the Nalu people, a West African people who settled the region before the arrival of the Mandinka in the 14th or 15th centuries. It is spoken predominantly by adults. It is estimated to be spoken by a range of 10,000 to 25,000 people, whereas Wilson (2007) reports that there are around 12,000 speakers. It is considered an endangered language due to its dwindling population of speakers.
Kuteb also known as Ati, Kutev, Mbarike is a Nigerian ethnic language. The Kuteb people mostly live in the southern part of Taraba state in Nigeria, with a thousand-or-so speakers across the border in Cameroon. In Nigeria, it is spoken mostly in Takum and Ussa LGAs, and Yangtu SDA Taraba State.
Jukun (Njikun), or more precisely Jukun Takum, is a Jukunoid language of Cameroon used as a trade language in Nigeria. Though there are only a few thousand native speakers, and only a dozen in Nigeria, it is spoken as a second language in Nigeria by tens of thousands.
Hõne is a Jukunoid language spoken in Gombe State and Taraba State, Nigeria. Speakers of the two dialects, Pindiga and Gwana, can only understand each other with difficulty. It belongs to the Jukun Wapan (Kororofa) language cluster.
The Yukubenic languages are a branch of either the Jukunoid family or the Plateau family spoken in southeastern Nigeria. Glottolog places Yukubenic in the Plateau family. Ethnologue, however, places Yukubenic in the Jukunoid family, based on Shimizu (1980), and Blench also follows this classification.
Laka or Lau is a Central Sudanic language spoken in Nigeria. It is most closely related to Kabba Laka of Chad. The Hausa refer to the Laka people of Lau as Lakawa. The language was only recently documented in the mid-2010s, and had been previously misclassified as a Mbum language along with Lau.
Nyifon (Iordaa) is a poorly known Jukunoid language of Buruku LGA, Benue State, Nigeria. There may have been about 1,000 speakers in the 1990s. The language is not reported in Ethnologue. Glottolog lists it as a dialect of Wapan language.
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