Miyobe or Soruba is an unclassified Niger-Congo language of

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its ...

. Güldemann (2018) notes that Miyobe cannot be securely classified within Gur, and leaves it out as unclassified within Niger-Congo. Unlike the

Gur languages The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Iv ...

, which are SVO, Miyobe has

SOV word order SOV may refer to: * SOV, Service Operations Vessel * SOV, a former ticker symbol for Sovereign Bank * SOV, a legal cryptocurrency created by the Sovereign Currency Act of 2018 of the Republic of the Marshall Islands * SOV, the National Rail statio ...

like the Senufo, Mande, and Dogon languages.

Geographic distribution

In Togo, Miyobe is spoken in the Solla area of

Binah Prefecture Bimah or Binah is a prefecture located in the Kara Region of Togo. The prefecture seat is located in Pagouda. The cantons (or subdivisions) of Bimah include Pagouda, Kétao, Pessaré, Lama-Dessi, Boufalé, Solla, Sirka, Kémérida, and Pitikita. ...

. In Benin, Miyobe is spoken in

Atacora Atakora is the northwesternmost department of Benin. Externally it borders Togo to the west and Burkina Faso to the north; internally it borders the departments of Alibori, Borgou and Donga. Major towns in the Atakora include Natitingou an ...

Department ( Boukoumbé and

Kouandé Kouandé is a town, arrondissement and commune, located in the Atakora Department of Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in ...

communes) and

Donga Department Donga is one of the twelve departments of Benin; its capital is Djougou, the fourth largest city in the country. The department of Donga was created in 1999 when it was split off from Atakora Department. Donga is subdivided into five communes, ...

( Copargo commune). Villages are Anandana, Kuhobè, Sétrah, Kantchoko (Kapatcharè), Tchomitchomi, Koubéné-Béné, Koutchamang, and Moupémou villages.Pali, Tchaa. 2011. Description systematique de la langue Miyobe (Togo/Benin). (Doctoral dissertation, Université de Bordeaux III; 575pp.)

References

{{Niger-Congo branches Gurma languages Languages of Benin Languages of Togo