Jina (Zina) is an

Afroasiatic language 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 the ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. The Muxule variety may be a distinct language. Jina is spoken in

Zina ''Zināʾ'' () or ''zinā'' ( or ) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, ''zina'' can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, sodomy, incest, and bestiality. ''Zi ...

commune, located just to the south of

Logone-Birni Logone-Birni is a town and commune in Cameroon. The town lies on the left (west) bank of the Logone River which at this point forms the state boundary between Cameroon and Chad. It is the capital of the Kotoko people, whose two other principal ci ...

commune. Muxule is spoken in a few villages to the north of

(department of

Logone-et-Chari Logone-et-Chari is a department of Extreme-Nord Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 12,133 km and at the 2005 Census had a total population of 486,997. The capital of the department is at Kousséri. Most inhabitants of ...

, Far North Region) by 1,500 speakers. The people of Zina claim to understand Lagwan and Munjuk better than Muxule.

Phonology

Jina is analysed as only having two phonemic vowels; /a/ and /ə/.

References

Biu-Mandara languages Languages of Cameroon {{Cameroon-lang-stub