Dikaka or Cham, is one of the
Savanna languages of
Middle Belt,
Nigeria. It is also known as Dijim–Bwilim, after its two dialects, Dijim and Bwilim. A
tonal language, it has a
whistled register
Whistled languages use whistling to emulate speech and facilitate communication. A whistled language is a system of whistled communication which allows fluent whistlers to transmit and comprehend a potentially unlimited number of messages over l ...
. It is spoken in Gombe and southwestern parts of
Adamawa State of Nigeria.
Dialects
The two dialects are Dijim and Bwilim.
[Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2014]
The languages of the Tula – Waja Group
Adamawa Languages Project.
*Dijim
ijím spoken in and around Kindiyo (currently Cham town)
*Bwilim
wilím spoken in and around Mɔna (Mwona, Mwana)
Another related dialect is spoken by former speakers of the
Jalaa language in and around Loojaa settlement.
Orthography
It consists of 8 vowels and 17 consonants.
:The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ǝ, ɨ, ʊ
:The consonants are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, w, y
References
{{Adamawa languages
Waja languages
Languages of Nigeria