Not to be confused with Jarawa, a language spoken primarily in India.
Jarawan
Geographic distribution
Southwest Cameroon (formerly), Southeast Nigeria
Linguistic classification
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic–Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue–Congo
Bantoid
Southern Bantoid
Bantu
Mbam-Bube-Jarawan
Jarawan
Proto-language
Proto-Jarawan
Glottolog
jara1262
The Jarawan languages shown within Nigeria and Cameroon
Jarawan is a group of languages spoken mostly in Bauchi State, Nigeria, with some also scattered in Plateau State, Taraba State, and Adamawa State in the same country. Two related languages formerly spoken in Cameroon are now extinct but are believed to have belonged to the group. This connection between Nigerian and Cameroonian Jarawan is attributed to Thomas (1925). Whether Jarawan languages are best classified alongside other Bantu languages or among non-Bantu Bantoid languages is a matter of ongoing debate. A number of descriptions and classifications in the early 20th century suggest that they may be historically related to Bantu languages but not necessarily Bantu themselves. Other perspectives based on lexicostatistic modeling and other phylogenetic techniques for language comparison argue instead that Jarawan languages are properly classified alongside Zone A Bantu languages (A31-A40-A60). For classifications based on these more recent studies, see for example Blench (2006), Piron (1997), and Grollemund (2012).
Not to be confused with Jarawa, a language spoken primarily in India. Jarawan is a group of languages spoken mostly in Bauchi State, Nigeria, with some...
Bantoid languages. The total number of Bantu languages is estimated at between 440 and 680 distinct languages, depending on the definition of "language" versus...
over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English, which was the language of Colonial Nigeria...
the various Narrow Bantu languages, Jarawan, Tivoid, Beboid, Mamfe (Nyang), Grassfields and Ekoid families. The Bendi languages are of uncertain classification;...
Niger–Congo languages. This latter group comprises one Senegambian language (Fulfulde), 28 Adamawa languages, and 142 Benue–Congo languages (130 of which...
Nagumi, also known as Ngong (Gong), is an extinct Jarawanlanguage of the North Province of Cameroon. It had only two fluent speakers in 1983 and only...
Gua language (ISO 639-3: gwx), a Guang language of coastal Ghana Gwa language (ISO 639-3: gwb), a Jarawanlanguage of northern Nigeria Mbato language (ISO...
Mboa, also known as Mbonga, is an apparently extinct language of Cameroon. Ethnologue reports 1,490 speakers cited to 2000, possibly the ethnic population...
Shiki, or Gubi, is one of the Bantu languages of Nigeria, spoken in Bauchi State. Shiki at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) v t e...
Mama, or Kantana, is a Bantu language spoken in Nigeria. The number of speakers is unclear. A figure of 20,000 was published in 1973. In 2011, "Kantana"...
(disambiguation) Jarawa-Onge languages or Ongan languages, a subfamily of languages within the Andamanese group Jarawanlanguages, a dialect cluster that is closely...
Damlanci (Damlawa, Damla) is a Southern Bantoid Jarawanlanguage of Nigeria. It was reported by Roger Blench (2019), but is not reported in Ethnologue...
zone A (A60+40b) language. Bile at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge:...
(Ngoe) languages A20–30 Sawabantu languages; Bube (in Mbam?) A40a (reduced) Basaa languages A50 Bafia languages A60+40b Mbam languages (Jarawan added after...
2015) (subscription required) Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation. v t e v t...
The Mbam languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in Cameroon. Sanaga (A60): Tuki (Bacenga), Leti/Mengisa, Mbwasa West Mbam (A40): Bati (A60), Nomaande...
performed fieldwork on the Plateau languages of north-central Nigeria in 1968–1969, and on the Jarawanlanguages of Nigeria in 1982–1983. From 1968 to...
language (West Chadic), a Chadic language of Nigeria Kulung language (Jarawan), a Bantoid language of Nigeria Kolong (disambiguation) This disambiguation page...
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