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There are over 500 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language of Nigeria is English, the former language of colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian English and Nigerian Pidgin were spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nigeria. Communication in the English language is much more popular in the country's urban communities than it is in the rural areas, due to globalization.
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.
Ga is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by about 500,000 people in the Gombi Local Government Area in Adamawa state of Nigeria. Many speakers live across the length and breath of Nigeria. It has three dialects, Ga'anda, Gabun and Boga; Blench (2006) classifies Gabun is a separate language. Its speakers are generally not monolingual in Ga'anda, instead, they use Hausa, Lala, Hona, Kilba, Fulfulde, and Bura. Ga'anda has a rich cultural heritage, its natives are very hospitable people. 70% of its population are Christians, 20% Muslims and 10% Traditionalists.
Pan is an Afro-Asiatic dialect cluster spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria.
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.
The Barawa languages are a branch of West Chadic languages that are spoken in Bauchi State, northern Nigeria.
Guduf-Gava is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Borno State, Nigeria. In a 2006 paper, Roger Blench classified Cineni as a dialect.
Ron is an Afro-Asiatic language cluster spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. Dialects include Bokkos, Daffo-Butura, Monguna. Blench (2006) considers these to be separate languages.
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 apiece. Yangkam is severely endangered, being spoken by around fifty elderly men.
The South Plateau languages, also known as Jilic–Eggonic, are spoken in central Nigeria. Eggon has 150,000 speakers and Jili perhaps 100,000.
The four Beromic languages are a branch of the Plateau family spoken in central Nigeria. Berom has 1 million speakers.
The four scattered and poorly attested Alumic languages form a branch of the Plateau languages of central Nigeria.
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."
Buru is a Southern Bantoid language of uncertain classification spoken in a single village in Nigeria. It is spoken in Sardauna LGA, Taraba State, in a village near Batu.
Daka is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people in Nigeria, the other being Chamba Leko.
The Koma language is a language cluster belonging to the Duru branch of Savanna 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.
Mboi is an Adamawa language of Nigeria. Its name is that of one of its dialects, the other two being Banga and Handa. These are rather divergent, Blench (2004) considers them to be distinct languages.
Ahwai is one of the Plateau languages of Sanga LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria. There are three mutually intelligible dialects, Ndun (Nandu), Nyeng (Ningon) and Shakara (Tari).
Lamang (Laamang) is an Afro-Asiatic language cluster of Nigeria. Blench (2006) classifies the Woga variety as a separate language.
Laka is an unclassified Mbum language of northern Nigeria.
References
- 1 2 Zari at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Zari". Glottolog 3.0 . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ↑ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
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