Massa (or Masana, Masa) is a
Chadic language
The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger
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spoken in southern
Chad and northern
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 ...
by the
Masa people. It has approximately 200,000 speakers.
Dialects are Bongor, Bugudum (Budugum), Domo, Gizay, Gumay, Ham, Walia, Wina (Viri), Yagwa.
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 ...
, a neighbouring language, was once misclassified as Masa.
Distribution
Masa is spoken in the southern part of
Mayo-Danay
Mayo-Danay is a department of Far North Province, Cameroon. The department covers an area of 5,303 km and at the 2005 Census had a total population of 529,061. The capital of the department is at Yagoua.
Subdivisions
The department is divid ...
department in the Far North Region, in the arrondissements of Yagoua, Kalfou, Wina, Yele, and Guéré.
Central Masa is spoken along the Logone River, with four varieties. The varieties, as listed from north to south, are: Yagwa (spoken around Yagoua), Domo (in Domo village), Walya, and Buguëum.
Western Masa includes Gizay, spoken around Guéré, and Viri (Wina), former ethnic Tupuri who had shifted to the Masa language.
The Muzuk dialect, which has long been considered a Munjuk dialect (ALCAM 1983), is in fact a Masa dialect since it is clearly mutually intelligible with the other Masa varieties (Ousmanou 2007). The speakers of Muzuk are bilingual, and speaking the Muzuk dialect of Masa, as well as Munjuk. It is spoken in the drier areas of the West (Guidigis,
Mayo-Kani
Mayo-Kani is a department of Extreme-Nord Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 5,033 km and at the 2005 Census had a total population of 404,646. The capital of the department is at Kaélé.
Subdivisions
The department is ...
, Far North Region).
Masa is spoken in Cameroon and Chad, with 103,000 speakers in Cameroon.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
References
Languages of Chad
Mayo-Kebbi Est Region
Languages of Cameroon
Far North Region (Cameroon)
Chadic languages
{{Chad-stub