Related Research Articles
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The Nigerian official language is English, the language of former colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian Pidgin was spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nigeria.
Pongu (Pangu), or Rin, is a Kainji language spoken in Nigeria. There are about 20,000 speakers. Their main centre is in Pangu Gari town of Niger State, about 20 kilometres southeast of Tegina. In Niger state, Rafi local government Kagara
Busa, or Bisã, is the Mande language of the former Borgu Emirate in northwestern Nigeria and northern Benin. It is called Busanci in Hausa, and has also been called Zugweya.
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.
Cipu (Cicipu), or Western Acipa, is a Kainji language spoken by about 20,000 people in northwest Nigeria. The people call themselves Acipu, and are called Acipawa in Hausa.
Ukaan is a poorly described Niger–Congo language or dialect cluster of uncertain affiliation. Roger Blench suspects, based on wordlists, that it might be closest to the (East) Benue–Congo languages. Blench (2012) states that "noun-classes and concord make it look Benue-Congo, but evidence is weak."
Mariga is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Bangi in the north of the area. Other towns in the LGA are Igwama and Inkwai. Various endangered Kamuku languages are spoken in Mariga LGA.
The Basa language, disambiguated as Basa-Benue, and also called Abacha, Abatsa, ru-Basa, Rubassa, is a Kainji language spoken in central Nigeria, in the vicinity of Bassa, Ankpa, Nasarawa, Gurara, Kwali and Makurdi. Blench (2008) notes that Basa-Makurdi, Basa-Gurara and Basa-Kwali are separate varieties from Basa-Kwomu or Basa-Komo of Bassa, Ankpa and Nasarawa Local Government Areas and other Bassa speakers are Bassa Nge (also known as Bassa Nupe.
u̠t-Ma'in or Fakai is a Northwest Kainji dialect continuum spoken by 36,000 people in Nigeria. There are numerous rather divergent dialects:
The Kambari or Kamberi languages) are a cluster of Kainji languages spoken in northwestern Nigeria.
The Kamuku languages are a branch of the Kainji languages spoken by the Kamuku people of Niger State, western Nigeria, mostly in Mariga and Rafi LGAs.
Lela or C'lela is a Kainji language of Nigeria. It is known as Cilela in Hausa, and it is also known as Dakarkari, because it is spoken by the Dakarkari people
Reshe is the most divergent of the Kainji languages of Nigeria. It is spoken on the northern and southern sides of Kainji Lake. It is spoken in Yauri LGA, Kebbi State, and in Borgu LGA, Niger State.
Bauchi is a cluster of Kainji languages spoken in Rafi, Nigeria LGA, Niger State, Nigeria.
The Shingini language, is a Kainji language of Nigeria spoken by the Kambari people. Its two dialects are Tsishingini and Cishingini (Chishingini).
Rogo is a Kainji language of Nigeria. It is spoken around the town of Ucanja in the Rafi and Mariga Local Government Areas of Niger State, as well as the Birnin Gwari LGA of neighbouring Kaduna State.
Shama, or Shama-Sambuga after its two dialects, is a Kainji language of Nigeria.
The six Northwest Kainji languages, also known as the Lela languages or the Duka languages, are spoken near Kainji Lake on the Niger River in Nigeria. They are distinguishable from other Kainji languages by the reduction of their noun-class prefixes to single consonants.
Basa is a cluster of Kainji languages scattered across Nigeria. They are spoken in distinct communities from Niger State in the northwest to Benue State in the south-centre. This means that the Basa may be the next most widespread people in Nigeria after the Hausa and Fula. Distant groups are not aware of each other, and those near their apparent homeland near the Kambari have lost their language.
Yumu is a minor Kainji language of Nigeria. It is listed as a potential Kambari language by Roger Blench, however it does not have an Ethnologue nor Glottolog entry.
References
- ↑ Kimba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ Roger Blench, 2010. The Kambari languages
- ↑ Blench, Roger (2012). "The Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria" (PDF). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
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