The West Chadic languages of the

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

family are spoken principally in

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

and

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, ...

. They include

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

, the most populous

Chadic language 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 ...

and a major language of

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

Languages

The branches of West Chadic go either by names or by letters and numbers in an outline format. *West Chadic ** Hausa–Gwandara (A.1):

, Gwandara **Bole–Angas (?) *** Bole–Tangale (A.2) ****North (Bole proper):

Bure Bure may refer to: Places Belgium * Bure, Wallonia, Belgium, a small village in the Tellin municipality * Battle of Bure, a World War II battle during the Battle of the Bulge Eritrea and Ethiopia * Bure (disputed zone), on the border between Eri ...

, Karekare, Bole,

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, Geruma, Deno, Galambu, Giiwo, Kubi, Ngamo, Maaka (Maagha), Ɓeele, Daza (Dazawa), ?

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

****South (Tangale): Kwaami, Pero, Piya-Kwonci, Kholok, Nyam, Kushi (Goji), Kutto (Kupto), Tangale, Dera (Kanakuru) *** Angas ( Central West Chadic) (A.3)Blench, Roger. 2017
Current research on the A3 West Chadic languages
****Ngasic: Ngas (Angas), Belnəng ****Mwaghavulic: Mwaghavul, Mupun (Mapun), Takas (Toos); Cakfem-Mushere **** Miship (Chip) ****Pan cluster ***** Chakato/Jorto ***** Jipal, Mernyang (Mirriam), Kwagallak, Kofyar (Doemak), Bwol, Goram, Jibyal **** Nteng ****Tel (Tɛɛl, Montol) ****Talic: Tal, Pyapun, Koenoem ****Goemaic: Goemai **** Yiwom (Ywom, Gerka) ***

Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

(A.4): Fyer, Tambas,

( Bokkos, Daffo-Butura, Mangar, Monguna), Shagawu, Duhwa (Karfa), Kulere (Tof, Richa, Kamwai-Marhai), Mundat, Sha **Bade–Warji (?) *** Bade (B.1): Duwai; Bade, Shira (†), Ngizim, Teshenawa (†), Auyokawa (†) *** Warji ( North Bauchi) (B.2): Pa'a; Warji, Diri, Ciwogai, Kariya (Vinahə), Mburku, Miya,

Siri Siri ( , backronym: Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is a digital assistant purchased, developed, and popularized by Apple Inc., which is included in the iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, Apple TV, audioOS, and visionOS operating sys ...

, Zumbun (Jimbin), Ajawa (†) **

Barawa Barawa ( ''Barāwe'', , ''Baraawe'', ''Barāwa'', Italian language, Italian: ''Brava''), also known as Barawe and Brava, is the capital city, capital of the South West State of Somalia, South West State of Somalia.Pelizzari, Elisa. "Guerre civ ...

( South Bauchi) (B.3) ***Zaar: Dass;

Geji ''Geji'' () were female Chinese people, Chinese Performing arts, performing artists and courtesans who trained in singing and dancing in ancient China. During the Warring States period, Warring States Period, a legendary figure named Han'e is ...

, Polci (Polchi), Saya,

Zari Zari () is an even thread traditionally made of fine gold or silver used in traditional Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani garments, especially as brocade in saris etc. This thread is woven into fabrics, primarily silk, to make intricate pat ...

, Zeem ***Guruntum: Guruntum-Mbaaru, Ju, Tala, Zangwal ***Boghom:

Jimi Jimi may refer to: * Jimi language (Cameroon) * Jimi language (Nigeria) * Jimi languages * Jimi system, administration system of ancient China * Jimi River, in Papua New Guinea * Jimi Valley, in Papua New Guinea * Jimi District, in Papua New ...

, Jum; Boghom, Kir-Balar, Mangas In addition, Poki is purportedly West Chadic, but no data is available.

Internal structure

George Starostin Georgiy Sergeevich "George" Starostin (; born 4 July 1976) is a Russian linguist. He is the son of the late historical linguist Sergei Starostin (1953–2005), and his work largely continues his father's. He is also known as a self-published mu ...

's (2010) internal classification of West Chadic as presented in Blažek (2010): *West Chadic **West Chadic A *** Hausa–Gwandara *** ****

****Bole-Angas ***** Bole–Tangale ***** Angas–Sura **West Chadic B *** Bade–Ngizim ***Bauchi **** North Bauchi **** South Bauchi

Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and work ...

's (2021) internal classification of West Chadic:Blench, Roger. 2021.
The erosion of number marking in West Chadic Roger Blench
'. WOCAL, Leiden. *West Chadic ** Hausa–Gwandara **Core West Chadic ***

*** Bole–Tangale *** Bade–Ngizim *** North Bauchi *** South Bauchi, A3 (Central-West)

Distribution

Distributions of West Chadic branches:

History of dispersal

(2022) suggests that West Chadic languages may have spread via a gradual agricultural dispersal in Central Nigeria, starting from 3,000–4,000 years ago. Blench notes that West Chadic morphology has been heavily influenced by

Plateau languages 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. Berom and Eggon have the most speaker ...

, likely as a result of long-term intermarriage that occurred as West Chadic incomers took local wives who spoke Plateau languages.Blench, Roger (2022).
Contact between West Chadic and Plateau languages: new evidence languages: new evidence
'. 11–12 November 2022, presentation given at Universität Wien.

Reconstruction

Although no full reconstruction of West Chadic has been published, reconstructions of numerals for West Chadic and its subgroups have been proposed by

Václav Blažek Václav Blažek (born 23 April 1959) is a Czech historical linguist. He is a professor at Masaryk University in Brno and also teaches at the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň. His major interests include Indo-European languages, Uralic lang ...

(2018).Blažek, Václav. 2018
The numerals of West Chadic
''Topics in Chadic Linguistics IX''. Papers from the 8th Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages, Bayreuth, February 4–5, 2016.

Phonology

The labial–velar consonants /kp/ and /gb/, widespread in Plateau and other Niger-Congo languages but uncommon in Chadic languages, can be found in Ron languages and in certain West Chadic A3 and Bole-Tangale languages. These consonants were borrowed from Plateau languages due to intensive long-term contact. However, other phonological features typical of Plateau and Niger-Congo languages such as

ATR ATR may refer to: Medicine * Acute transfusion reaction * Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related, a protein involved in DNA damage repair Science and mathematics * Advanced Test Reactor, nuclear research reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, ...

and

vowel harmony In phonology, vowel harmony is a phonological rule in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – must share certain distinctive features (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is typically long distance, meaning tha ...

are not found in West Chadic languages.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

References

External links

The Yobe Languages Research Project
by the late Russell G. Schuh of UCLA

at africanlanguages.org {{Authority control Chadic languages West Chadic languages Languages of Nigeria