Jukun (''Njikun''), or more precisely Jukun Takum, is a

Jukunoid language The Jukunoid languages are a branch of the Benue-Congo languages spoken by the Jukun and related peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon. They are distributed mostly throughout Taraba State, Nigeria and surrounding regions. Their asymmetrical nasal ...

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 ...

used as a

trade language A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

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 ...

. Though there are only a few thousand native speakers, and only a dozen in Nigeria (as of 2000), it is spoken as a second language in Nigeria by tens of thousands (40,000 reported in 1979). The name ''Jukun'' is a cover term for several related Jukunoid languages, such as the much more numerous Jukun Wapan. Wase Tofa is listed by Blench (2019) as a dialect.

References

Jukunoid languages Languages of Nigeria Languages of Cameroon {{BenueCongo-lang-stub