Kulung (Wurkum) is a minor
West Chadic language
The West Chadic languages of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in Niger and Nigeria. They include Hausa, the most populous Chadic language and a major language of West Africa.
Languages
The branches of West Chadic go either by n ...
of
Karim Lamido LGA,
Taraba State
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, image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria
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, ...
,
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 ...
that was recently discovered by
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 work ...
. The language is not reported in
Ethnologue or
Glottolog. Blench (2019) gives a rough estimate of about 2,000 speakers.
Kulung speakers consider themselves to be ethnically part of the larger
Jarawan Bantu-speaking
Kulung, although their language is
West Chadic and related to
Piya
The ''Piya'' (; "Increased ra") was a Chinese dictionary compiled by Song Dynasty scholar Lu Dian ( 陸佃/陆佃, 1042-1102). He wrote this ''Erya'' supplement along with his ''Erya Xinyi'' (爾雅新義 "New Exegesis of the ''Erya''") comment ...
.
The language exhibits considerable Jarawan influence but retains its Chadic character.
References
West Chadic languages
Languages of Nigeria
{{WChadic-lang-stub