The Kainji languages are a group of about 60 related languages spoken in west-central
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 ...
. 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
The Kambari or Kamberi languages) are a cluster of Kainji languages spoken in northwestern Nigeria (Kebbi State and Niger State). Geographic distribution
The Kambarri languages are spoken in Kebbi and Niger States, Nigeria. There are also some sp ...
branch; and
Clela (C'lela, Lela) (100,000), of the
Northwest Kainji
The six Northwest Kainji languages, formerly known as Lela, are spoken near Kainji Lake on the Niger River in Nigeria. They are distinguishable from other Kainji languages by the reduction of their noun-class prefixes to single consonants.Roger ...
branch. In total, there were about one million speakers of Kainji languages (1990s estimate) 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 ...
.
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
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 langua ...
.
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
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. ...
Classification
The most divergent of the Kainji languages are
Reshe,
Laru and
Lopa
Lohjan Pallo (abbreviated LoPa) is a football club from Lohja, Finland. The club was formed in 1966 and their home ground is at the Harjun urheilukenttä. The men's first team currently plays in the Kakkonen (Second Division). The chairman is R ...
, which may form a branch together. Subclassification of the other branches is not yet clear. A bipartite division between East Kainji and West Kainji is no longer maintained, with West Kainji now being
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
.
Blench (2018)
Most recent Kainji classification by Blench (2018:64):
[Blench, Roger M. 2018. Nominal affixing in the Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria. In John R. Watters (ed.), East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs, 59–106. Berlin: Language Science Press. ]
*Lake
**''
Reshe''
**Upper Niger
***''
Rop''
***''
Shen'', ''Shuba''
*Central
**
Northwest Kainji
The six Northwest Kainji languages, formerly known as Lela, are spoken near Kainji Lake on the Niger River in Nigeria. They are distinguishable from other Kainji languages by the reduction of their noun-class prefixes to single consonants.Roger ...
**
Kambari
The Kambari or Kamberi languages) are a cluster of Kainji languages spoken in northwestern Nigeria (Kebbi State and Niger State). Geographic distribution
The Kambarri languages are spoken in Kebbi and Niger States, Nigeria. There are also some sp ...
, ''
Cicipu
Cipu (''Cicipu''), or Western Acipa, is a Kainji language spoken by about 20,000 people in northwest Nigeria. The people call themselves ''Acipu'', and are called ''Acipawa'' in Hausa.
Like most Benue–Congo languages, Cipu has a complex n ...
''
**
East Kainji
The East Kainji languages are spoken in a compact area of the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, near Jos. There are more than 20 of them, most of which are poorly studied.
History
East Kainji languages are less internally diverse than some of the other P ...
**
Kamuku,
Shiroro
Shiroro is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Kuta, which has fifteen 5wards as follows:
#Allawa
#Bangajiya
#Bassa/kukoki
#Egwa/gwada
#Erena
#Galkogo
#Gurmana
#Gussoro
#Kato
#Kushaka/kurebe
#Kwak ...
,
Basa
Basa may refer to:
Agreements
* Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement, between National Aviation Authority regulators
People
* Basa (surname)
* Bassa people (Cameroon), also spelled Basa, an ethnic group
* Basa, leader and namesake of the Basing ...
Blench (2012)
Blench's (2012) classification is:
*Lakes:
Reshe;
Laru (Shen),
Lopa
Lohjan Pallo (abbreviated LoPa) is a football club from Lohja, Finland. The club was formed in 1966 and their home ground is at the Harjun urheilukenttä. The men's first team currently plays in the Kakkonen (Second Division). The chairman is R ...
(Rerang)
*Kainji proper (Central)
**
Northwest Kainji
The six Northwest Kainji languages, formerly known as Lela, are spoken near Kainji Lake on the Niger River in Nigeria. They are distinguishable from other Kainji languages by the reduction of their noun-class prefixes to single consonants.Roger ...
(Lela)
**(branch)
***
Kambari
The Kambari or Kamberi languages) are a cluster of Kainji languages spoken in northwestern Nigeria (Kebbi State and Niger State). Geographic distribution
The Kambarri languages are spoken in Kebbi and Niger States, Nigeria. There are also some sp ...
, ''
Cicipu
Cipu (''Cicipu''), or Western Acipa, is a Kainji language spoken by about 20,000 people in northwest Nigeria. The people call themselves ''Acipu'', and are called ''Acipawa'' in Hausa.
Like most Benue–Congo languages, Cipu has a complex n ...
''
***
Basa
Basa may refer to:
Agreements
* Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement, between National Aviation Authority regulators
People
* Basa (surname)
* Bassa people (Cameroon), also spelled Basa, an ethnic group
* Basa, leader and namesake of the Basing ...
,
East Kainji
The East Kainji languages are spoken in a compact area of the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, near Jos. There are more than 20 of them, most of which are poorly studied.
History
East Kainji languages are less internally diverse than some of the other P ...
***
Kamuku,
Shiroro
Shiroro is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Kuta, which has fifteen 5wards as follows:
#Allawa
#Bangajiya
#Bassa/kukoki
#Egwa/gwada
#Erena
#Galkogo
#Gurmana
#Gussoro
#Kato
#Kushaka/kurebe
#Kwak ...
McGill (2012)
A revised classification of the Kainji languages by McGill (2012) splits Kainji into the ''Lake'' and ''Central'' branches.
[McGill, Stuart. 2012. The Kainji languages. Ms, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 30 August 2012.]
;Kainji
* Lake
**
Reshe
** Upper Niger
***
Sengwe/
Laru
***
Oleran/
Lopa
Lohjan Pallo (abbreviated LoPa) is a football club from Lohja, Finland. The club was formed in 1966 and their home ground is at the Harjun urheilukenttä. The men's first team currently plays in the Kakkonen (Second Division). The chairman is R ...
:
Rop,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
* Central
**
Basa
Basa may refer to:
Agreements
* Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement, between National Aviation Authority regulators
People
* Basa (surname)
* Bassa people (Cameroon), also spelled Basa, an ethnic group
* Basa, leader and namesake of the Basing ...
, Eastern
** Northwest
***
Damakawa The Damakawa are an ethnic group of about 500-1000 people in northwest Nigeria. They live in three villages near Maganda in Sakaba Local Government Area, Kebbi State. They used to speak the Damakawa language
Damakawa is a moribund Benue–Congo ...
***
C'lela
Lela or C'lela (Clela) is a Kainji language of Nigeria. It is known as Chilela in Hausa, and it is also known as Dakarkari, because it is spoken by the Dakarkari people Location
The Lela live mostly in Kebbi State and Niger State. However, there a ...
***
Hun-
Saare/
Duka
Duka is a village in Vas County, Hungary.
Famous people
The poet Judit Dukai Takách was born in Duka in 1795. Zádor György was born there in 1799.
Others have even taken the name of their village as their surname.
References
External links ...
;
Wuri-
Gwamhi-
Mba
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
,
Ma'in
The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in (Minaean: ''Maʿīn''; modern Arabic ''Maʿīn'') in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 10th century BCE-150 BCE. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by ...
/
Fakai
Fakai is a Local Government Area in Kebbi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Mahuta.
It has an area of 2,247 km and a population of 121,212 at the 2006 census.
The postal code
A postal code (also known locally in vario ...
**
Kambari
The Kambari or Kamberi languages) are a cluster of Kainji languages spoken in northwestern Nigeria (Kebbi State and Niger State). Geographic distribution
The Kambarri languages are spoken in Kebbi and Niger States, Nigeria. There are also some sp ...
***
Cicipu
Cipu (''Cicipu''), or Western Acipa, is a Kainji language spoken by about 20,000 people in northwest Nigeria. The people call themselves ''Acipu'', and are called ''Acipawa'' in Hausa.
Like most Benue–Congo languages, Cipu has a complex n ...
*** West:
Gaushi/
Auna
Auna is an integrated healthcare provider with operations in Peru and Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast ...
,
Kimba,
Wunci/
Agwara
Agwara (or Agwarra) is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Agwara.
It has an area of 1,538 km and a population of 57,413 at the 2006 census.
The postal code
A postal code (also known loca ...
*** East:
Shingini/
Salka
Salka ( hu, Ipolyszalka) is a village and municipality in the Nové Zámky District in the Nitra Region of south-west Slovakia.
History
In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1156.
Geography
The municipality lies at an altitude ...
,
Va'di,
Bangi Bangi may refer to:
*Bangi (surname), an Indian surname
*Bangi District, Bangi, Afghanistan
*Bangi, Iran (disambiguation)
*Bangi, Nepal
*Bangi, Malaysia
** Bangi Komuter station, Malaysia
* Bandar Baru Bangi, Malaysia
* Bangi (federal constituency), ...
** Nuclear
***
Shiroro
Shiroro is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Kuta, which has fifteen 5wards as follows:
#Allawa
#Bangajiya
#Bassa/kukoki
#Egwa/gwada
#Erena
#Galkogo
#Gurmana
#Gussoro
#Kato
#Kushaka/kurebe
#Kwak ...
****
Bauchi
Bauchi (earlier Yakoba) is a city in northeast Nigeria, the Administrative center of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plateau ...
: Mun-Wayam, Rubo-Supana
****
Gurmana
****
Rin/
Pongu,
Waga
Waga ( si, වග, ta, வாகா) is an area or a cluster of villages in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Administrated by Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha (Divisional Council). It is within the Seethawaka Divisional Secretariat Division. Waga is said ...
****
Fungwa/
Ura
***
Kamuku-
Hunwarya/
Ngwoi
****
Hunwarya/
Ngwoi
****
Kamuku
*****
Regi-
Cinda-
Kuki
*****
Rogo-
Shiyabe,
Zubazuba-
East Acipa
*****
Shama
Gerhardt (1983)
Classification of ''Plateau 1a'' (now West Kainji) and ''Plateau 1b'' (now East Kainji) languages by Gerhardt (1983), based on Maddieson (1972):
[Maddieson, Ian. 1972. ''The Benue-Congo Languages of Nigeria''. Sheet 1 and 2: ''Plateau''. Mimeographed paper. Ibadan.]
;Plateau 1a
*Laru-Lopa
*Reshe
*Kambari cluster
*Ngwoi, Kamuku cluster, Bassa-Kontagora, Ashaganna
*Bassa-Kaduna, Bassa-Kuta, Gurmana, Pongo, Baushi, Ura, Bassa-Kwomu
*Dakarkari, Duka, Pəku-Kəri-Wipsi cluster, Lyase
;Plateau 1b
*Kuda-Chamo, Butu-Ningi, Gyema, Taura, Lemoro-Sanga, Janji, Shani, Buji-Ibunu-Jere-Gus, Anaguta
*Kuzamaini, Kurama, Rumaya, Ruruma, Binawa, Kono, Surubu
*Kaivi, Kiballo, Kitimi, Kinuku, Dungi, Gure-Kahugu
*Amo
Names and locations
Below is a comprehensive list of Kainji language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).
Note: ''West Kainji'' is geographical rather than genealogical.
East Kainji
West Kainji
Numerals
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
References
*Blench, Roger. 2012
The Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria(Roger Blench)
External links
ComparaLex database with Kainji word lists
{{Niger-Congo branches
Benue–Congo languages