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Adamawa Languages
The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in Central Africa, in northern Cameroon, north-western Central African Republic, southern Chad, and eastern Nigeria, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people (as of 1996). 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. Geographically, the Adamawa languages lie near the location of the postulated Niger–Congo – Central Sudanic contact that may have given rise to the Atlantic–Congo family, and so may represent the central radiation of that family. Classification Joseph Greenberg postulated the Adamawa languages as a part of Adamawa–Ubang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea, and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa, it has been categorized as being in both camps. Cameroon's population of nearly 31 million people speak 250 native languages, in addition to the national tongues of English and French, or both. Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon), Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese discoveries, Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area ''Rio dos Camarões'' (''Shrimp River''), which became ''C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endangered Language
An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead language". If no one can speak the language at all, it becomes an " extinct language". A dead language may still be studied through recordings or writings, but it is still dead or extinct unless there are fluent speakers left. Although languages have always become extinct throughout human history, endangered languages are currently dying at an accelerated rate because of globalization, mass migration, cultural replacement, imperialism, neocolonialism and linguicide (language killing). Language shift most commonly occurs when speakers switch to a language associated with social or economic power or one spoken more widely, leading to the gradual decline and eventual death of the endangered language. The process of language shift is often infl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mumuye–Yendang Languages
The Mumuye–Yendang languages are a proposed group of Savanna languages spoken in eastern Nigeria. They were labeled "G5" in Joseph Greenberg Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28, 1915 – May 7, 2001) was an American linguist, known mainly for his work concerning linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages. Life Early life and education Joseph Greenberg was born on M ...'s Adamawa language-family proposal. * Mumuye languages * Yendang languages Their unity is not accepted by Güldemann (2018). Only Mumuye and Yendang proper have more than about 5,000 speakers. Mumuye is the most widely spoken Adamawa language. Further reading *Shimizu, Kiyoshi. 1979. ''A comparative study of the Mumuye dialects (Nigeria)''. (Marburger Studien zur Afrika- und Asienkunde A14). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer. Footnotes References *Roger Blench, 2004List of Adamawa languages(ms) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mumuye-Yendang languages Leko–Nimbari languages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duru Languages
The Duru languages are a group of Savanna languages spoken in northern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria. They were labeled "G4" in Joseph Greenberg's Adamawa language-family proposal. Kleinewillinghöfer (2012) also observes many morphological similarities between the Samba-Duru and Central Gur languages. Languages * Duli (extinct) *Dii: Duupa, Dugun (Panõ), Dii (Mambe’, Mamna’a, Goom, Boow, Ngbang, Sagzee, Vaazin, Home, Nyok) * Peere (Kutin) * Longto (Voko) *Vere–Dowayo ** Dowayo ** Sewe ** Koma ** Vere However, Guldemann (2018) casts doubt on the coherence of Samba–Duru as a unified group. Classification In the Adamawa Languages Project site, Kleinewillinghöfer (2015) classifies the Samba-Duru group as follows (see also Leko languages). ;Samba-Duru * Vere (Verre) **Jango (Mom Jango) **Vere cluster (Momi, Vere Kaadam) **Wɔmmu (Wongi, Wɔŋgi) **Nissim-Eilim **Kobom, Karum (Vere Kari), Danum **Vɔmnəm (Koma Vomni) **Gəunəm cluster: Yarəm, Lim, Gbaŋrɨm, Baidə ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leko Languages
The Leko languages are a small group of languages spoken in northern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria. They were labeled "G2" in Joseph Greenberg's Adamawa language-family proposal. The Duru languages are frequently classified with the Leko languages, although their relationship remains to be demonstrated. Languages The languages are: * Kolbila * Nyong * Chamba Leko * Wom Names and locations (Nigeria) Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations (in Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ... only) from Blench (2019). References External links Leeko group– Blench {{Adamawa languages Leko–Nimbari languages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Languages Of Africa
''The Languages of Africa'' is a 1963 book of essays by the linguist Joseph Greenberg, in which the author sets forth a genetic classification of African languages that, with some changes, continues to be the most commonly used one today. It is an expanded and extensively revised version of his 1955 work ''Studies in African Linguistic Classification'', which was itself a compilation of eight articles which Greenberg had published in the ''Southwestern Journal of Anthropology'' between 1949 and 1954. It was first published in 1963 as Part II of the ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', Vol. 29, No. 1; however, its second edition of 1966, in which it was published (by Indiana University, Bloomington: Mouton & Co., The Hague) as an independent work, is more commonly cited. Its author describes it as based on three fundamentals of method: * "The sole relevance in comparison of resemblances involving both sound and meaning in specific forms." * " Mass comparison as agains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humboldt University Of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher as the University of Berlin () in 1809, and opened in 1810. From 1828 until its closure in 1945, it was named the (Royal) Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin (FWU Berlin; ). During the Cold War, the university found itself in East Berlin and was ''de facto'' split in two when the Free University of Berlin opened in West Berlin. The university received its current name in honour of Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt in 1949. The university is divided into nine faculties including its medical school shared with the Freie Universität Berlin. The university has a student enrollment of around 35,000 students, and offers degree programs in some 171 disciplines from un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guillaume Segerer
Guillaume Segerer (born July 13, 1965, in Paris, France) is a French linguist who specializes in Niger-Congo languages, especially the Atlantic languages. Segerer is known for his historical-comparative work on the Atlantic languages. Education In 2000, Segerer obtained his doctorate from Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3. His doctorate thesis was a description of the Bijogo language of Guinea-Bissau. He has been employed at the CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ... since 2001, where he mostly worked at LLACAN (), a Unité mixte de recherche (UMR) within the CNRS. Since 2007, Segerer has been employed as a full researcher at LLACAN. Projects Some projects that Segerer has worked on include the following. *RefLex (Reference Lexicon of the languages of Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benue–Congo Languages
Benue–Congo (sometimes called East Benue–Congo) is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Subdivisions Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains the Plateau languages, Plateau, Jukunoid languages, Jukunoid and Kainji languages, Kainji families, and Bantoid–Cross combines the Bantoid languages, Bantoid and Cross River languages, Cross River groups. Bantoid is only a collective term for every subfamily of Bantoid–Cross except Cross River, and this is no longer seen as forming a valid branch, however one of the subfamilies, Southern Bantoid, is still considered valid. It is Southern Bantoid which contains the Bantu languages, which are spoken across most of Sub-Saharan Africa. This makes Benue–Congo one of the largest subdivisions of the Niger–Congo language family, both in number of languages, of which ''Ethnologue'' counts 976 (2017), and in speakers, numbering perhaps 350 million. Benue–Congo also includes a few minor Languag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daka Languages
The Dakoid languages are a branch of the Northern Bantoid languages spoken in Taraba and Adamawa states of eastern Nigeria. Languages *Dakoid **Gaa–Dong *** Donga (Dong) ***Gaa (Tiba) **Daka–Taram *** Taram *** Daka (a dialect cluster of Dirim, Samba, Lamja, Dengsa, and Tola). Classification Greenberg Greenberg is a surname common in North America and Anglosphere, with anglicized spelling of the German Grünberg (''green mountain'') or the Jewish Ashkenazi Yiddish Grinberg, an artificial surname.Beider, Alexander (1993). ''A Dictionary of Jewi ... placed Samba Daka (Daka) within his Adamawa proposal, as group G3, but Bennett (1983) demonstrated to general satisfaction that it is a Benue–Congo language, though its placement within Benue–Congo is disputed. Blench (2010) considers it to be Benue–Congo. Boyd (ms), however, considers Daka an isolate branch within Niger–Congo (Blench 2008). Dong (Donga), though clearly Niger–Congo, is difficult to classify. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Sudanic
Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Cameroon. They include the pygmy languages Efé and Asoa. Blench (2011) suggests that Central Sudanic influenced the development of the noun-class system characteristic of the Atlantic–Congo languages The Atlantic–Congo languages make up the largest demonstrated family of languages in Africa. They have characteristic noun class systems and form the core of the Niger–Congo family hypothesis. They comprise all of Niger–Congo apart from .... Classification Half a dozen groups of Central Sudanic languages are generally accepted as valid. They are customarily divided into East and West branches. Blench (2023) Blench cites the following classification: Sinyar–Formona is sparsely documented and its placement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jalaa Language
Jalaa (autonym: ), also known as Cèntûm, Centúúm or Cen Tuum, is an extinct language of northeastern Nigeria (Loojaa settlement in Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State), of uncertain origins, apparently a language isolate. The Jalabe (as descendants of speakers of the language are called) speak the Bwilim dialect of the Dikaka language. It is possible (but unconfirmed) that some remembered words have been retained for religious ceremonies, but in 1992 only a few elders remember words that their parents had used, and by 2010 there may not even remain any such rememberers. The Jalabe are said to have come to Loojaa from an area a few miles south within the Muri Mountains, where they had shared a settlement with Tso and Kwa clans. (The name of this settlement, Cèntûm or Cùntûm, is used as a name for the language in some sources. Jalaa elders differ in whether they believe Jalaa or Centum/Cuntum was their original name for themselves.) Later, during the nineteenth cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
