The Dii language is a
dialect cluster
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
in the
Duru
Duru is a ward and a village in Babati Rural District of the Manyara Region of Tanzania. Duru is one of the five villages that makes up Duru ward. Thus, the name Duru is also the name of the administrative ward. The ward comprises five village ...
branch of
Savanna languages. ''Yag Dii'' is the ethnonym.
''Ethnologue'' lists ''Mambe’, Mamna’a, Goom, Boow, Ngbang, Sagzee, Vaazin, Home, Nyok'' as dialects, and notes that Goom may be a separate language. Blench (2004) lists them all, as well as ''Phaane'', as separate languages, no closer to each other than they are to the other Dii languages, Duupa, Dugun (Panõ).
Varieties
The Duupa (5,000 speakers) used to live in the mountains to the east of Poli (in Poli commune,
Faro department
Faro is a department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative di ...
, North Region). Today, the vast majority have descended from the mountains and now live in the
Lobi River Lobi may refer to:
*Lobi, Estonia, a village in Estonia
*Lobi people, a West African ethnic group
*Lobi language
Lobi (also Miwa and Lobiri) is a Gur language of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), offici ...
plains (around the junction where the
Ngaoundéré-
Garoua road passes) and in Poli.
The Dugun, also called Pa'no (7,000 speakers (Lars Lode 1997)), live southeast of Poli in the North Region (in Poli commune, Faro commune, and Lagdo commune in
Bénoué
Bénoué is a Departments of Cameroon, department of North Province (Cameroon), North Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 13,614 km and as of 2005 had a total population of 1,781,955. The capital of the department lies at ...
department). The ''Dugun'' live in the plains, and the ''Saa'' in the center of a massif that is difficult to access. Lars Lode, a missionary linguist, estimated a lexical similarity of 95% between the two varieties using a 100-word list. The Dugun consider themselves to be a subgroup of the Dii (or Duru) people. Their language, although closely related to Dii, is distinct.
The Dii (47,000 speakers (SIL 1982)) live east of the Dugun. They live in a large part of the
Bénoué River
The Benue River (french: la Bénoué), previously known as the Chadda River or Tchadda, is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months. The size of its b ...
plains, including in the departments of
Mayo-Rey (
Tcholliré commune, North Region) and Vina (
Mbé and
Ngaoundéré communes, Adamaoua Region). They are predominantly located to the east of Poli in the plains of
Mayo-Sala and
Mayo-Rey (in
Tcholliré commune) as well as in the upper
Benue River
The Benue River (french: la Bénoué), previously known as the Chadda River or Tchadda, is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months. The size of its bas ...
region (in
Lagdo commune) and the upper
Vina River The Vina River is a river in Cameroon.[Nganha
Nganha is a Communes of Cameroon, commune in Cameroon.
It has a population between 3,000 and 5,000.
It is about northwest of the summit of Tchabal Nganha, a large stratovolcano on the Ngaoundere Plateau, a highland area in the Adamawa Region of C ...](_blank)
and
Mbé communes), on the edge of the Adamaoua cliff (Ngaoundéré commune). Nyok, considered by other Dii speakers to be a secret language (the language of sorcerers), may be a distinct language. Furthermore, not much is known about Goom, which ''ALCAM'' (2012) considers to be a dialect of Dii.
Writing System
Nasalisation is indicated with a cedilla : ‹a̧, ȩ, ə̧, i̧, o̧, u̧› ; The vowels ‹ɨ, ɔ, ʉ› cannot be nasalized.
The tones are indicated by accents:
* The high tone is indicated by an acute accent: ‹á, á̧, é, ȩ́, ə́, ə̧́, í, í̧, ɨ́, ó, ó̧, ɔ́, ú, ú̧, ʉ́› ;
* The low tone is indicated by a grave accent: ‹à, à̧, è, ȩ̀, ə̀, ə̧̀, ì, ì̧, ɨ̀, ò, ò̧, ɔ̀, ù, ù̧, ʉ̀› ;
* The average tone is indicated by no diacritic: ‹a, a̧, e, ȩ, ə, ə̧, i, i̧, ɨ, o, o̧, ɔ, u, u̧, ʉ›.
References
*Roger Blench, 2004
List of Adamawa languages(ms)
Duru languages
Languages of Cameroon
{{AtlanticCongo-lang-stub