The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the

Adamawa Plateau The Adamawa Plateau (french: Massif de l'Adamaoua) is a plateau region in west-central Africa stretching from south-eastern Nigeria through north-central Cameroon ( Adamawa and North Provinces) to the Central African Republic. The part of the pl ...

in central Africa, in

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 o ...

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; the C ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, and

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people (as of 1996).

Joseph Greenberg Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28, 1915 – May 7, 2001) was an American linguist, known mainly for his work concerning linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages. Life Early life and education Joseph Greenberg was born on ...

classified them as one branch of the Adamawa–Ubangi family of

Niger–Congo languages Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic-Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly several smaller groups of ...

. They are among the least studied languages in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and include many

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead langu ...

s; by far the largest is

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, al ...

, with 400,000 speakers. A couple of

unclassified languages An unclassified language is a language whose Genetic relationship (linguistics), genetic affiliation to other languages has not been established. Languages can be unclassified for a variety of reasons, mostly due to a lack of reliable data but s ...

—notably Laal and

Jalaa Jalaa (autonym: ), also known as Cèntûm, Centúúm or Cen Tuum, is an extinct language of northeastern Nigeria (Loojaa settlement in Balanga, Nigeria, Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State), of uncertain origins, apparently a language isol ...

—are found along the fringes of the Adamawa area. Geographically, the Adamawa languages lie near the location of the postulated Niger–Congo –

Central Sudanic Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria and ...

contact that may have given rise to the Atlantic–Congo family, and so may represent the central radiation of that family.

Classification

postulated the Adamawa languages as a part of Adamawa–Ubangian (then called ''Adamawa–Eastern),'' and divided them into 14 numbered groups. Group G3, Daka (or Dakoid), is now known to be a branch of Benue–Congo. The relationships of the other branches has undergone considerable revision. There have also been recent attempts at computationally classifying the Adamawa languages.

Greenberg (1963)

Greenberg's 14 numbered Adamawa groups are:

Boyd (1989)

Boyd (1989) added the

Day language Day is an Adamawa language of southern Chad, spoken by 50,000 or so people southeast of Sarh Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface- ...

and classified them as follows: * Leko–Nimbari (or Chamba–Mumuye) ** Duru: G4 **

Leko Leko may refer to: * Leko (surname) * Leko languages, a small group of African Savanna languages * Leco language, a moribund isolate language of Bolivia * Lekolite or Leko, a type of stage spotlight * Alexandro da Silva Santos or Leko, Brazilian fo ...

: G2 ** Mumuye–Yendang: G5 ** '' Nimbari:'' G12 * Mbum–Day ** Bua: G13 **

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

: G14 **

Mbum Mbum Proper (also Mboum, Buna, Mboumtiba and Wuna) is a Adamawa–Ubangi language of Central Africa. It is spoken by about people in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. History The Mbum language is spoken by the Mbum people who inhabit ...

: G6 ** '' Day'' * Waja–Jen ** Bikwin–Jen (or Jen): G9 ** Tula–Wiyaa (or Waja): G1 ** Bəna–Mboi (or Yungur): G7 ** '' Baa'' (a.k.a. Kwa) ** '' Longuda'': G10 * '' Nyimwom'' (or Kam: G8) He excluded the

Fali languages Fali comprises two languages spoken in northern Cameroon. Included in Greenberg's Adamawa languages (as group G11), it was excluded from that family by Boyd (1989). Roger Blench suspects it may represent one of the earlier lineages to have branc ...

(G11).

Güldemann (2018)

Güldemann (2018) recognises 14 coherent Adamawa "genealogical units", but is agnostic about their positions within Niger-Congo. * Tula-Waja *'' Longuda'' * Bena-Mboi * Bikwin-Jen * Samba-Duru * Mumuyic *

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

(Yendangic) * Kebi-Benue (Mbumic) * Kimic * Buaic *'' Day'' *'' Baa'' = ''Kwa'' *'' Nyingwom'' = ''Kam'' *'' Fali''

Kleinewillinghöfer (2019)

Kleinewillinghöfer (2019), in the Adamawa Languages Project website, recognises the following 17 groups as Adamawa languages. * Tula-Waja (

Waja Waja (also known as Waja Temuga) is a town in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi Zone of the Tigray Region, south of the city of Alamata, Waja has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1471 meters above sea level. It is one o ...

): G1 * Bikwin-Jen (Burak, Jen): G9 *'' Kam (Nyiŋɔm, Nyiwom, Nyingwom)'': G8 * Longuda (Nʋngʋra cluster): G10 *'' Baa (Kwa)'' *

: G5 * Yandang (Yendang): G5 *

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

- Duru (Chamba-Leko, Leko, Duru, Sama-Duru, Samba Leeko): G2, G4 * Ɓəna-Mboi (Yungur): G7 *Kebi-Benue (

): G6 *

: G14 *'' Day'' * Bua: G13 *'' Nimbari (Baari, Bari)'': G12 xtinct*'' Duli - Gewe (Gey, Gueve)'' xtinct*? '' Fali'': G11 *? '' Chamba-Daka ( Daka)'': G3 Only the Tula-Waja, Longuda, Ɓəna-Mboi,

- Duru, and Bua groups have

noun class In linguistics, a noun class is a particular category of nouns. A noun may belong to a given class because of the characteristic features of its referent, such as gender, animacy, shape, but such designations are often clearly conventional. Some ...

es. The other groups only display vestiges of formerly active noun class systems.

Blench (2012, 2020)

Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and works ...

(2012) concludes that the Adamawa languages are a geographic grouping, not a language family, and breaks up its various branches in his proposed

Savannas A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

family. He places some of the western Adamawa languages closer to the

Gur languages The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Iv ...

than to other Adamawa families. Fali is tentatively excluded from Savannas altogether. Blench (2020) retains a connection between Mumuye and Yendang, but breaks up Kleinewillinghöfer's Samba-Duru.

Unclassified Adamawa languages

The Oblo language of

has been included in several versions of the Adamawa group, but its position within it is unclear. It has been speculated that the unclassified

Laal language Laal is an endangered language isolate spoken by 749 people () in three villages in the Moyen-Chari prefecture of Chad on opposite banks of the Chari River, called Gori (''lá''), Damtar (''ɓual''), and Mailao. It represents an isolated surv ...

may be Adamawa; the

Jalaa language Jalaa (autonym: ), also known as Cèntûm, Centúúm or Cen Tuum, is an extinct language of northeastern Nigeria (Loojaa settlement in Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State), of uncertain origins, apparently a language isolate. The Jalabe ...

is probably not Adamawa, but shows heavy Adamawa influence. However, both are generally now considered to be

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary of Adamawa languages from Kleinewillinghöfer's ''Adamawa Languages Project'' website and various other sources:Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2019.
Adamawa Language Groups
'. Adamawa Languages Project. ''Note'': In table cells with slashes, the singular form is given before the slash, while the plural form follows the slash.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

References

External links

Adamawa Language Projects
(

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

)
AdaGram
(

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

INALCO Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...

). Exploring Nigeria’s linguistic wealth: grammatical analysis and linguistic documentation of the Adamawa languages.
List of Adamawa languages
– Blench

– Blench

– Blench

by Roger M. Blench, 2000. Mallam Dendo, Cambridge.
A rapid appraisal survey of Gbete (PDF)
by Jason Diller & Kari Jordan-Diller, 2002. SIL Electronic Survey Reports SILESR 2002-050.
A sociolinguistic survey of the Mambay language of Chad and Cameroon (PDF)
by Cameron Hamm, 2002. SIL Electronic Survey Reports SILESR 2002-039.
Rapid appraisal and lexicostatistical analysis surveys of Dama, Mono, Pam, Ndai and Oblo (PDF)
by Michael & Charlene Ayotte, 2002. SIL Electronic Survey Reports SILESR 2002-048.

– SIL-Cameroon

Vocabulaires comparés des instruments aratoires dans le Nord-Cameroun
Tourneaux * Idiatov, Dmitry. 2017-08-29
Results of the first AdaGram survey in Adamawa and Taraba States, Nigeria
(with Mark Van de Velde, Tope Olagunju and Bitrus Andrew). 47th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL) (Leiden, Netherlands). {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamawa Languages Volta–Congo languages