The Gwèri or Vere language Were also known as Kobo or Mom Jango, is a member of the Duru branch of

Savanna languages The Savannas languages, also known as Gur–Adamawa or Adamawa–Gur, is a branch of the Niger–Congo languages that includes Greenberg's Gur and Adamawa–Ubangui families. History of classification The Gur–Adamawa link was demonstrated in ...

. It is spoken across the northern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya 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 G ...

n–

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

ian border.

Names

Vere is a cultural and geographical cover term that may include several completely distinct language varieties. The Kobo (in three villages north of the

Chamba Leko Chamba Leko is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people, the other being Chamba Daka. It is a member of the Leko branch of Savanna languages, and is spoken across the northern Nigerian–Cameroonian border. ''Chamba'' is also spelled 'Sa ...

area) are the only group of people known as ''Vere'' in Cameroon. Kobo is spoken in Béka 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. Raymond Boyd had collected data from an ethnic Samba informant in

Tignère Tignère is a town and commune in Cameroon. Climate Tignère has a tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categor ...

speaking a language called Mome or Nya Kopo "language of the mountain", which he had learned from his mother. The lexicon is very different from "''Kobo''" as documented by ALCAM (2012), although both are clearly

Adamawa languages The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people (as of 19 ...

. In this language, 'man' is called ''vere''. However, according to Boyd, ''Mome'' or ''Nya Kopo'' is a

Mumuye The Mumuyes are a people of Nigeria. They speak the Mumuye language. They constitute the largest tribal group in Taraba State of Nigeria and form the predominant tribes found in Zing, Yorro, Jalingo, Ardo-Kola, Lau, Gassol, Bali and Gashaka, ...

dialect. There are approximately 4,000 Kobo speakers in Cameroon. It is also spoken in Nigeria.

Dialects

Dialects are ''Mom Jango'' and ''Momi'' (also known as ''Ziri''). These are divergent enough they probably constitute distinct languages. Kleinewillinghöfer (2012) distinguishes three Vere languages: *Mom Jango *Northern Alantika Vere *Vere Kaadam (Momi)

Distribution

Jango is spoken in the villages of Mayo Ini, Nassarwo Koma, Jumɓaare, Mantunaa, Soncha (Choncha), Bambu, DanWumba, Tɛkɛrɛ, Korkai, Gawì, Zaari, Gerta, Kaau Pindu, Garau, Giwaare, Jagu suwa, Vam guiti, Gogura, Tondiire, and Layinde.Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich (2015)
Notes on Jango (Mom Jango)

References

Duru languages Languages of Nigeria Languages of Cameroon {{AtlanticCongo-lang-stub