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Hausa–Gwandara Languages
The Hausa–Gwandara languages (also known as the A.1 West Chadic languages) of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in Niger and Nigeria. They include Gwandara and Hausa, the most populous Chadic language and a major language of West Africa. Languages The two Hausa–Gwandara languages are: *Hausa *Gwandara Classification within West Chadic Based on nominal morphology and other grammatical patterns, Blench (2021) considers the Hausa–Gwandara branch to have been the first West Chadic branch to have split off from Proto-West Chadic.Blench, Roger. 2021. The erosion of number marking in West Chadic Roger Blench'. WOCAL, Leiden. Non-Chadic influences The Hausa–Gwandara languages have many words that are not found in other Chadic languagesBlench, Roger. 2011Benue-Congo (and some Nilo-Saharan) etymologies for Hausa words?/ref> because they are loans from Adamawa, Plateau, Kainji, Nupoid, and other Benue-Congo languages acquired during its expansion across the Nigeri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Guinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of , and with a population of over 225 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's sixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the second-largest in Africa. Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium BC, with the Nok civilization in the 15th century BC, marking the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kainji Languages
The Kainji languages are a group of about 60 related languages spoken in west-central Nigeria. They form part of the Central Nigerian (Platoid) branch of Benue–Congo. Demographics Four of the most widely spoken Kainji languages are Tsuvadi (150,000), Cishingini and Tsishingini (100,000 each)—all from the Kambari branch; and Clela (C'lela, Lela) (100,000), of the Northwest Kainji branch. In total, there were about one million speakers of Kainji languages (1990s estimate) in Nigeria. History Proto-Kainji is estimated by Blench (2012) to be 3,000 to 4,000 years old. Its broken distribution today is likely due to the historical northward expansion of the Nupoid languages. Morphology Proto-Kainji nominal prefixes: * *mV- for liquids and other mass nouns * *u- for person, *ba- for people * *kV- for diminutive and perhaps also augmentative; also found in some Plateau languages Classification The most divergent of the Kainji languages are Reshe, Laru and Lopa, which may for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulrush Millet
Pearl millet (''Cenchrus americanus'', commonly known as the synonym ''Pennisetum glaucum''; also known as 'Bajra' in Hindi, 'Sajje' in Kannada, 'Kambu' in Tamil, 'Bajeer' in Kumaoni and 'Maiwa' in Hausa, 'Mexoeira' in Mozambique) is the most widely grown type of millet. It has been grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times. The center of diversity, and suggested area of domestication, for the crop is in the Sahel zone of West Africa. Recent archaeobotanical research has confirmed the presence of domesticated pearl millet on the Sahel zone of northern Mali between 2500 and 2000 BC. Description Pearl millet has ovoid grains of 3 – 4 mm length, the largest kernels of all varieties of millet (not including sorghum). These can be nearly white, pale yellow, brown, grey, slate blue or purple. The 1000-seed weight can be anything from 2.5 to 14 g with a mean of 8 g. The height of the plant ranges from 0.5 – 4 m. Cultivation Pearl millet is well ada ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spear Grass
Spear grass or speargrass is the common name of numerous herbaceous plants worldwide including: Poaceae (grasses) *''Aristida'' spp. *''Heteropogon contortus'' *''Imperata cylindrica'' *''Piptochaetium'' *''Poa'' spp. *''Stipa'' spp.; typically ''Stipa calamagrostis'' Apiaceae (umbellifers) ''Aciphylla ''Aciphylla'' is a genus of about 40 species of plants in the family Apiaceae, endemic to New Zealand and Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of ...'' spp. Other * Foxtail (other) {{Plant common name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agama Lizard
''Agama'' (from Sranan Tongo meaning "lizard") is a genus of small-to-moderate-sized, long-tailed, insectivorous Old World lizards. The genus ''Agama'' includes at least 37 species in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, where most regions are home to at least one species. Eurasian agamids are largely assigned to genus ''Laudakia''. The various species differ in size, ranging from about in length, when fully grown. Their colour also differs between species, between genders, and according to mood; for example, a dominant male in display mode is far brighter than when it has been caught, beaten by another male, or otherwise alarmed. Females tend to be less colourful than the males of the species. According to species, agamas live in forest, in bush, among rocks and on crags, but where their habitat has been cleared, or simply occupied by humans, some species also adapt to life in villages and compounds, for example inside the thatch of huts and other sheltering crevices. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nilo-Saharan Languages
The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari River, Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. The languages extend through 17 nations in the northern half of Africa: from Algeria to Benin in the west; from Libya to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the centre; and from Egypt to Tanzania in the east. As indicated by its hyphenated name, Nilo-Saharan is a family of the African interior, including the greater Nile Basin and the Central Sahara Desert. Eight of its proposed constituent divisions (excluding Kunama languages, Kunama, Kuliak, and Songhai languages, Songhay) are found in the modern countries of Sudan and South Sudan, through which the Nile River flows. In his book ''The Languages of Africa'' (1963), Joseph Greenberg named the group and argued it was a genetic (linguistics), genetic family. It contains the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Belt
The Middle Belt (also spelt Middle-Belt or Central Nigeria) is a term used in human geography to designate a belt region stretching across central Nigeria longitudinally and forming a transition zone between Northern and Southern Nigeria. It is composed of the southern half of the defunct Northern Region of Nigeria, now comprising mostly the North Central geopolitical zone, and is characterised by its lack of a clear majority ethnic group. It is also the location of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory. The eminence of manifold minority groups, to some degree, constitutes an ethno-linguistic barrier in the country and draws a separation between the principally Muslim North and the mainly Christian south. The region is a convergence of these cultural domains and maintains a tremendous degree of ethno-linguistic diversity. Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Niger–Congo languages are all spoken, which are three of the primary African language families. In the 1920s, it was des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nupoid Languages
The Nupoid languages are a branch of Volta–Niger spoken in west-central Nigeria, particularly in southeastern Niger State and northern Kogi State. They include the Nupe and Ebira languages, each with about 4 million speakers. Most Nupoid languages have 3 level tones.Blench, Roger. 2013The Nupoid languages of west-central Nigeria: overview and comparative word list Languages Roger Blench (2013: 4) classifies the Nupoid languages as follows. *Ebira–Gade: Ebira, Gade *Nupe–Ganagana ** Ganagana language (Ganagana) **Nupe *** Asu ***core Nupe ****Nupe cluster: Nupe (Nupe–Nupe-Tako), Dibo ****Gupa cluster: Gupa-Abawa, Kakanda, Kami, Kupa In addition, Koro Zuba is close to Dibo. ISO. Retrieved 16 December 2022 Names and locations Belo ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plateau Languages
The forty or so Plateau languages are a tentative group of Benue–Congo languages spoken by 15 million people on the Jos Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Nasarawa State and in adjacent areas in central Nigeria. Berom and Eggon have the most speakers. Most Plateau languages are threatened and have around 2,000-10,000 speakers.Blench, Roger. 2007. Language families of the Nigerian Middle Belt and the historical implications of their distribution'. Presented to the Jos Linguistic Circle in Jos, Nigeria, July 25, 2007. Defining features of the Plateau family have only been published in manuscript form (Blench 2008). Many of the languages have highly elaborate phonology systems that make comparison with poor data difficult. Branches and locations Below is a list of major Plateau branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) based on Blench (2019). The Plateau languages are highly typologically and lexically diverse. For instance, Roger Blench (2022) notes that Beromic is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niger
) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesRépublique du Niger, "Loi n° 2001-037 du 31 décembre 2001 fixant les modalités de promotion et de développement des langues nationales." L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde (accessed 21 September 2016) , languages = , religion_ref = , religion_year = 2012 , religion = , demonym = Nigerien , capital = , coordinates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 1996). Joseph Greenberg classified them as one branch of the Adamawa–Ubangi family of Niger–Congo languages. They are among the least studied languages in Africa, and include many endangered languages; by far the largest is Mumuye, with 400,000 speakers. A couple of unclassified languages—notably Laal and Jalaa—are found along the fringes of the Adamawa area. Geographically, the Adamawa languages lie near the location of the postulated Niger–Congo – Central Sudanic contact that may have given rise to the Atlantic–Congo family, and so may represent the central radiation of that family. Classification Joseph Greenberg postulated the Adamawa languages as a part of Adamawa–Ubangian (then called ''Adamawa–Eastern),'' and divi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
