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Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic-Congo languages, and possibly several smaller groups of languages that are difficult to classify. If valid, Niger-Congo would be the world's largest in terms of member languages, the third-largest in terms of speakers, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area. It is generally considered to be the world's largest language family in terms of the number of distinct languages, just ahead of Austronesian, although this is complicated by the ambiguity about what constitutes a distinct language; the number of named Niger–Congo languages listed by Ethnologue is 1,540.
Mpra, or Mpre, is an extinct language spoken in the village of Butei in central Ghana, located between the towns of Techiman and Tamale near the confluence of the Black and White Voltas. Mpra has been difficult to classify due to its divergent vocabulary. It is known only from a 70-word list given in a 1931 article. Blench (2007) considers it to be a possible language isolate. A poorly attested language spoken in the nearby village of Tuluwe, Mpur, may also turn out to be yet another language isolate. Both Butie and Tuluwe are located near the village of Mpaha.
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.
Southern Bantoid is a branch of the Bantoid language family. It consists of the Bantu languages along with several small branches and isolates of eastern Nigeria and west-central Cameroon. Since the Bantu languages are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Bantoid comprises 643 languages as counted by Ethnologue, though many of these are mutually intelligible.
Bantoid is a major branch of the Benue–Congo language family. It consists of the Northern Bantoid languages and the Southern Bantoid languages, a division which also includes the Bantu languages that constitute the overwhelming majority and to which Bantoid is named after.
Tiv is a Tivoid language spoken in some states in North Central Nigeria, with some speakers in Cameroon. It had over 5 million speakers in 2020. The largest population of Tiv speakers are found in Benue state in Nigeria. The language is also widely spoken in the Nigerian states of Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa and Cross River. It is by far the largest of the Tivoid languages, a group of languages belonging to the Southern Bantoid languages
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.
Bura-Pabir is a Chadic language spoken in North-eastern Nigeria by the Babur/Bura people. Dialects are Pela, Bura Pela, Hill Bura, Hyil Hawul, Bura Hyilhawul, and Plain Bura. The language is closely related to Kilba, Chibok, Margi and a few order North-eastern Nigerian Languages.
Mwaghavul is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Plateau State, dominantly in Mangu L.G.A., Middle Belt Region of Nigeria.
The Grassfields languages are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in the Western High Plateau of Cameroon and some parts of Taraba state, Nigeria. Better known Grassfields languages include the Eastern Grassfields languages Bamun, Yamba and the Ring language, Kom, Nso, Oku, Bali, Bafut. Almost all of these languages are closely related, sharing approximately half of their vocabulary.
Ebira is a Niger-Congo language. It is spoken by around 2 million people in North central Nigeria. It is the most divergent Nupoid language.
The Nyingwom or Kam language is a Niger-Congo language spoken in eastern Nigeria. Blench (2019) lists speakers residing in the main villages of Mayo Kam and Kamajim in Bali LGA, Taraba State. Lesage reports that Kam is spoken in 27 villages of Bali LGA.
The Dakoid languages are a branch of the Northern Bantoid languages spoken in Taraba and Adamawa states of eastern Nigeria.
Jarawan is a group of languages spoken mostly in Bauchi State, Nigeria, with some also scattered in Plateau State, Taraba State, and Adamawa State in the same country. Two related languages formerly spoken in Cameroon are now extinct but are believed to have belonged to the group. This connection between Nigerian and Cameroonian Jarawan is attributed to Thomas (1925). Whether Jarawan languages are best classified alongside other Bantu languages or among non-Bantu Bantoid languages is a matter of ongoing debate. A number of descriptions and classifications in the early 20th century suggest that they be may historically related to Bantu languages but not necessarily Bantu themselves. Other perspectives based on lexicostatistic modeling and other phylogenetic techniques for language comparison argue instead that Jarawan languages are properly classified alongside Zone A Bantu languages (A31-A40-A60). For classifications based on these more recent studies, see for example Blench (2006), Piron (1997), and Grollemund (2012).
The Bendi languages are a small group of languages spoken in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. Bokyi is one of the Bendi languages having some speakers in Cameroon. Once counted among the Cross River languages, they may be a branch of Southern Bantoid, with observed similarities especially with the Ekoid languages.
Moro is a Niger–Congo language in the Heiban family spoken by the Moro people in the Nuba Mountains of Kordofan, Sudan.
Daka is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people in Nigeria, the other being Chamba Leko.
Ana Dogon, or Ana Tiŋa, is a recently discovered Dogon language spoken in Mali. It was first reported online in 2005 by Roger Blench.
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.
Bokyi is a regionally important Bendi language spoken by the Bokyi people of northern Cross River State, Nigeria. It is ranked amongst the first fifteen languages of the about 520 living languages in Nigeria, with a few thousand speakers in Cameroon.
References
- ↑ Blench, Roger (2008). "Prospecting proto-Plateau" (Manuscript)– via rogerblench.info.
- ↑ Blench, Roger (2011). "The membership and internal structure of Bantoid and the border with Bantu" (PDF). Bantu IV. Berlin: Humboldt University – via rogerblench.info.
- ↑ "[Unknown article title]". Paideuma. F. Steiner. 29: 79. 1983.
Taram dialect is spoken by those Daka living around the confluence of the Taraba, Kam and Yim rivers, that is to the south of the central chiefdoms.