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The Afroasiatic languages are a language family of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahara and Sahel. Over 500 million people are native speakers of an Afroasiatic language, constituting the fourth-largest language family after Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Niger–Congo. Most linguists divide the family into six branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Omotic, and Semitic. The vast majority of Afroasiatic languages are considered indigenous to the African continent, including all those not belonging to the Semitic branch.
The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 196 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, and northern Cameroon. By far the most widely spoken Chadic language is Hausa, a lingua franca of much of inland Eastern West Africa, particularly Niger and the northern half of Nigeria. Hausa, along with Mafa and Karai Karai, are the only three Chadic languages with more than 1 million speakers.
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.
Tarok is an agrarian society in the hills and on the plains southeast of Plateau State, Middle Belt, 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 520 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language is English, which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. The English-based creole Nigerian Pidgin – first used by the British and African slavers to facilitate the Atlantic slave trade in the late 17th century – is the most common lingua franca, spoken by over 60 million people.
Tera is a Chadic dialect cluster spoken in north-eastern Nigeria in the north and eastern parts of Gombe State and Borno State. Blench (2006) believes Pidlimdi (Hinna) dialect is a separate language.
The West Chadic languages of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in Niger and Nigeria. They include Hausa, the most populous Chadic language and a major language of West Africa.
Ngas, or Angas, is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. The language has two dialects: Hill Angas and Plain Angas. Ngas is one of the major languages in Plateau State. The 1952 census puts it as the largest ethnic group in Plateau State. Retired General Yakubu Gowon is a prominent Nigerian who is of Ngas ethnicity.
The Angas, Angas–Sura, or Central West Chadic languages are a branch of West Chadic languages spoken in Plateau State, north-central Nigeria.
The South Bauchi languages are a branch of West Chadic languages that are spoken in Bauchi State and Plateau State, Nigeria.
Tarok is a regionally important Plateau language in the Langtang area of southeast Plateau State, Nigeria, where it serves as a local lingua franca. Blench (2004) estimates around 150,000 speakers.
The five Tarokoid languages are a branch of the Plateau family spoken in central Nigeria, just north of the middle reaches of the Benue River. Tarok itself has 300,000 speakers, with Pe and Sur about 5,000 each. Yangkam is severely endangered, being spoken by around fifty elderly men.
Berom or Birom is the most widely spoken Plateau language in Nigeria. The language is locally numerically important and is consistently spoken by Berom of all ages in rural areas. However, the Berom are shifting to Hausa in cities. The small Cen and Nincut dialects may be separate languages. Approximately 1 million (2010) people speak in this language.
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.
Polci is an Afro-Asiatic language of Bauchi State, Nigeria. It is part of the Barawa cluster, which is in turn part of the West Chadic language family.
Pe, also spelled Pai or Pye, is a minor Plateau language of southeastern Plateau State, Nigeria. It is classified as a Tarokoid language by Roger Blench (2023).
The Ron, Ronic or Ron–Fyer languages, group A.4 of the West Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, are spoken in Plateau State, north-central Nigeria.
Jibyal is a West Chadic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. It was discovered by Roger Blench in 2017.
Nteng is a West Chadic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. Nteng is spoken in the villages of Nteng, Geer, Ɗok, Kelaghal, Lool, Kwaki, Jekmorop, and Gorom, with Gorom being a primarily Bwal-speaking village. Roger Blench (2017) estimates that there are 2,000 speakers as of 2017.
References
- ↑ Yiwom at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- 1 2 3 Blench, Roger. 2017. Current research on the A3 West Chadic languages.
- 1 2 Blench, Roger. 2013. However did Ywom become so strange?.
