Mumuye is by far the most populous of the

Adamawa languages The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people (as of 199 ...

. It is spoken in northeastern

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 ...

. It is classified in the Leko–Nimbari branch of

Savanna languages The Savannas languages, also known as Gur–Adamawa or Adamawa–Gur, is a branch of the Niger–Congo languages that includes Greenberg's Gur and Adamawa–Ubangui families. History of classification The Gur–Adamawa link was demonstrated in ...

, as Adamawa is no longer considered a valid family. According to ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

'', there are multiple dialects: ''Zinna, Rang (Lamma), Dong, Yoro, Lankaviri, Gola (Bajama), Gongla, Kasaa, Saawa, Jalingo, Nyaaja, Jeng, Gnoore, Yaa, Sagbee, Shaari, Kugong, Mang, Kwaji, Meeka, Yakoko''.

Phonology

The Mumuye dialect of the town of

Zing Zing or ZING may refer to: *Zing (model-checker), infrastructure for verification of concurrent software via model checking *Zing (punctuation) or irony punctuation, invented by English printer Henry Denham in the 1580s *Zing (quartet), the 2010 S ...

has the following inventory:

Consonants

* �͡mis recorded in the post-nasal off-glide of labial-velar plosives. * A glottal stop �can be heard within a word-initial or word-final vowel or within syllabic nasals. * /n/ is heard as a velar �when in the following positions; word-final, before or after a consonant, or in isolation. * The palatal /ɲ/ can have a post-nasal allophone of ̃ * Stops /p, b/ may also occur as slightly aspirated ʰ, bʱ * /k͡p/ can also be heard as a labialized velar stop ʷas a free variant. * /w ̃/ have allophones as � ̃ŋ, ŋʷ ̃, ʷ̃ŋwhen in free variation. * Before /u/, /r/ is pre-labialized as �r

Vowels

* �occurs as an allophone of /i/. * A lengthened version of /ɛː/ can sound more towards close to a close-mid sound

Dialects

Mumuye dialects and their locations as classified and listed by Shimizu (1979): *Mumuye proper **North-East Mumuye ***Zing group ****Gnoore, Jeng ****Zing, Mang ****Kwaji, Meeka ****Yaa **South-West Mumuye ***Monkin group ****Kugong, Shaari ****Sagbee ***Kpugbong group ****Kasaa, Yɔrɔ ****Lankaviri, Saawa, Nyaaja, Jaalingo

Zing group

The Zing, or Northeast, group consists of 7 dialects. Gnoorè is spoken in villages up to 4 km from Jeleng. The main settlement is Gomla (Gongla), also known as Gnoore in the local dialect. Gnoore-speaking settlements are Jeleng, Yulong, Koódèlèʔ, Kpong, Kokoli, Yugumaʔ, Kpmaapuʔ, Laanàpoʔ, and Doózolung. Jeng is spoken in Dingding, Dondon gooriʔ, Kpmapo (Mapo), and Kwosa (Kwasa) villages, along the Sangudu and Dingding Rivers, both of which are tributaries of the Belwa River. Zìng is spoken in the town of

(formerly Zinna) and the settlements of Tunàpo, Pényera, Dangbe (Dangberin), Bara, and others. Máng is spoken in the Máng (Máná / Mánáng) village group, which consists of the 9 villages of Kurung, Dang, Yézòngko, Laákpááre, Yésènti, Dógang, Goba, Shóngkobo, and Dongkòbi. Kwàji is spoken in Kwàji Bubúle, Kwàji, and Mashiiteʔ, which are villages in Kwaji District. Meekà (Mika, Meika) is spoken in the settlements of Meeka, Sabon Garin Meeka, Kozòn (Kozang), Jassòòri (Jasori), Laya (Leya), Korong (Koron), Zangbangʔ, Nànpanʔ, and Bòòliʔ. It is spoken between the

Jalingo Jalingo is the capital city of Taraba State in north eastern Nigeria , named in fulfulde (The word jalingo meaning superior place and has been estimated with population of 118,000. and the city is mainly dominated by Fulanis and others small eth ...

road to the northeast and the Kunini River to the southwest. Yàà (Yààkoko) is spoken in the settlements of Yaakoko, Doopa (Dopa), Kódnààri (Kondari), Yukwa, and Maazan. It is spoken along the Monkin River south of

Monkin group

The Monkin group is spoken to the south of the Zing group. Shimizu (1979) lists 3 dialects. Kúgong is spoken in the settlements of Kugong Nasaraawò (Gurujè), Dààfa, Lakùnaʔ, and Dooroʔ, which are located around the peaks of Kugong and Gbole. Shaari is spoken in the settlements of Danggòng, Bòòzi, Doóbura, Màng, Dèbángbu, and Dángsheeri, which are located to the south of Yukwa on the Monkin-Lama road. Sàgbéè (Mònkín) is spoken in the settlements of Sàgbéè, Gangkula, Daraaraʔ, and Gboleʔ. Monkin town is located to the northwest of the Sàgbéè-speaking area.

Kpugbong group

The Kpugbong group is spoken in the southwest. Kàsaà is spoken in the settlements of Kàsaà, Lambo, Ngba, Kwazanci, Tassa, Donkun, and Kodin. Lànkàviri is spoken in Lànkàviri. Saawà is spoken in and around Saawà (also known as Kpàntisaawà or Pantisaawa). Yɔrɔ is spoken in Yɔrɔ settlement. It is claimed to be the original village from which all Mumuye people originate from, although hills isolate it geographically from the other Mumuye locations. Nyaajà is spoken between the Saawa and Kasaa dialect areas. Jààlingò is spoken in and around

town.

References

{{Authority control Mumuye–Yendang languages Languages of Nigeria