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

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

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, 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 A bipartite division between East Kainji and West Kainji is no longer maintained, with West Kainji now being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 **

, ''

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 Pl ...

** Kamuku,

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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),

(Rerang) *Kainji proper (Central) **

(Lela) **(branch) ***

, ''

'' ***

*** Kamuku,

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/

: Rop,

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* Central **

, 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/

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; Wuri- Gwamhi-

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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 ...

***

*** West: Gaushi/

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, 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 loc ...

*** East: Shingini/

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, Va'di,

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** Nuclear ***

****

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,

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**** 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