East Kainji languages

East Kainji
Geographic
distribution		 Nigeria
Linguistic classification Niger–Congo
Glottolog east2404[1]

The 24 East Kainji languages are spoken in a compact area of the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, near Jos. They are poorly studied.

Classification

East Kainji was once thought to be a primary branch of the Kainji languages, but this is no longer the case.[2] Impressionistically, Piti and Atsam appear to be distinct, but the rest form a continuous dialect chain.[3] Nonetheless, Ethnologue indicates several branches; these will be retained here for reference:[4]

In Blench's classification, Piti–Atsam is named "Southern". Northern Jos is named "Jos", and the Jera languages are named "Northern Jos", which he further subdivides into several dialect clusters; Amo is placed in this group.[5]

Glottolog's classification is similar to Blench's, but the Piti–Atsam name is retained. In this classification, all languages except for Piti–Atsam are grouped under "Jos". Amo, while within the "Jos" group, is left out of both Kauru and Jera (or "Northern Jos", following Blench).[6]

Only Kurama, Gbiri-Niragu, Jere, Sanga and Lemoro have more than a few thousand speakers.

At the time of the British conquest, several of these languages were in the process of shifting from duodecimal to decimal systems. Languages attested with such systems include Janji, Gure-Kahugu (Gbiri-Niragu) and Piti.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Eastern Kainji". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Kainji/KOP.htm
  3. ↑ Blench 2004, The status of the East Kainji languages of Central Nigeria, p. 8
  4. ↑ "Eastern". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  5. ↑ Blench 2004, The status of the East Kainji languages of Central Nigeria, p. 10
  6. ↑ "Glottolog 3.0 - Kainji Lake". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  7. ↑ Shuji Matsushita, "Decimal vs. Duodecimal: An interaction between two systems of numeration"
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