Pana language

Last updated
Pana
Native to Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon
Native speakers
(86,000 cited 1996–2000) [1]
Dialects
  • Pana
  • ? Pondo
  • ? Gonge
Language codes
ISO 639-3 pnz
Glottolog pana1293
ELP Pana (Central African Republic)

Pana is an Mbum language of the Central African Republic. A few thousand speak it in southern Chad and northern Cameroon. A dialect in Cameroon, Man, may be a separate language. Blench (2004) leaves Pondo and Gonge in CAR unclassified within the Mbum languages.

Distribution

Pana is spoken around Belel (Belel commune, Vina department, Adamawa Region), and in Mayo-Rey department, Northern Region. It is also found in CAR and Chad. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, 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.

Mbum Proper is a Adamawa–Ubangi language of Central Africa. It is spoken by about 137,000 people in the Cameroon, Chad and Central African Republic.

The Mbum–Day languages are a subgroup of the old Adamawa languages family, provisionally now a branch of the Savanna languages. These languages are spoken in southern Chad, northwestern Central African Republic, northern Cameroon, and eastern Nigeria.

The Mbum or Kebi-Benue languages are a group of the Mbum–Day branch of the Adamawa languages, spoken in southern Chad, northwestern Central African Republic, northern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria. Their best-known member is Mbum; other languages in the group include Tupuri and Kare.

Tupuri is a language mostly spoken in the Mayo-Kebbi Est Region of southern Chad and in small parts of northern Cameroon. It is an Mbum language spoken by the Tupuri people with approximately 300,000 speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bata language</span> Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria and Cameroon

Bata (Gbwata) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State in the Numan, Song, Fufore and Mubi LGAs, and in Cameroon in North Province along the border with Nigeria. Dialects are Demsa, Garoua, Jirai, Kobotachi, Malabu, Ndeewe, Ribaw, Wadi, and Zumu (Jimo). It is often considered the same language as Bacama.

Nzanyi is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State in Maiha LGA, and along the border in Cameroon. Dialects are Dede, Hoode, Lovi, Magara, Maiha, Mutidi, Nggwoli, Paka, and Rogede.

The Koma language is a language cluster belonging to the Duru branch of Savannas languages of Cameroon. Blench (2004) includes three varieties separated in Ethnologue, Koma Ndera, Gɨmne, and Gɨmnɨme; within Koma Ndera, speakers of the marginal dialects, Gomnome and Ndera, can scarcely understand one another, though both understand the central dialect, Gomme.

Mundang is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon.

Kuo (Koh) is an Mbum language of southern Chad and northern Cameroon.

Kare is a southern Mbum language of the Central African Republic, spoken by the Kare people in the mountains of the northeasterly Ouham-Pendé prefecture around Bocaranga. It is spoken by around 97,000 people in the country, and another few thousand speakers in Cameroon. The language's presence on the southeastern edge of the Mbum family is thought to reflect early 19th-century migrations from the Adamawa Plateau, fleeing Fulani raids.

Doyayo is a language of the Duru branch of Adamawa languages spoken in Cameroon.

Kutin is a member of the Duru branch of Savanna languages. Most Nigerian speakers moved to Cameroon when the Gashaka-Gumti National Park was established.

Gidar (Gidder), or Kaɗa, is a Biu–Mandara (Chadic) language of Cameroon and Chad.

Musgu is a cluster of closely related language varieties of the Biu–Mandara subgroup of the Chadic languages spoken in Cameroon and Chad. The endonym is Mulwi. Blench (2006) classifies the three varieties as separate languages. Speakers of the extinct related language Muskum have switched to one of these.

Duli is an extinct Adamawa language of northern Cameroon.

Karang language is an Mbum language of Cameroon and Chad.

Mangbai is an Mbum language of northern Cameroon and southern Chad.

Mono is a moribund Mbum language spoken by older adults in northern Cameroon.

Kali is a presumably moribund Mbum language of northern Cameroon or the Central African Republic.

References

  1. Pana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 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.