The forty or so Plateau languages are a tentative group of
Benue–Congo languages
Benue–Congo (sometimes called East Benue–Congo) is a major branch of the Volta-Congo languages which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Subdivisions
Central Nigerian (or Platoid) contains the Plateau, Jukunoid and Kainji families, and Bant ...
spoken by 15 million people on the
Jos Plateau,
Southern Kaduna,
Nasarawa State and in adjacent areas in 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 of G ...
.
Berom and
Eggon have the most speakers. Most Plateau languages are threatened and have around 2,000-10,000 speakers.
[Blench, Roger. 2007. ]
Language families of the Nigerian Middle Belt and the historical implications of their distribution
'. Presented to the Jos Linguistic Circle in Jos, Nigeria, July 25, 2007.
Defining features of the Plateau family have only been published in manuscript form (Blench 2008). Many of the languages have highly elaborate phonology systems that make comparison with poor data difficult.
Branches and locations
Below is a list of major Plateau branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) based on Blench (2019).
The Plateau languages are highly typologically and lexically diverse. For instance,
Roger Blench (2022) notes that
Beromic is more internally diverse than all of
West Chadic A3
The Angas, Angas–Sura, or Central West Chadic languages (also known as A.3 West Chadic) are a branch of West Chadic languages spoken in Plateau State, north-central Nigeria.
Languages
The Angas languages are:Blench, Roger. 2017Current research ...
.
[Blench, Roger (2022). ]
Contact between West Chadic and Plateau languages: new evidence languages: new evidence
'. 11-12 November 2022, presentation given at Universität Wien.
Classification
Little work has been done on the Plateau languages, and the results to date are tentative.
Blench (2018)
Blench (2018:112) gives the following classification of the Plateau languages.
[Blench, Roger M. 2018. Nominal affixes and number marking in the Plateau languages of Central Nigeria. In John R. Watters (ed.), ''East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs'', 107–172. Berlin: Language Science Press. ]
Blench (2008)
The following classification is taken from Blench (2008). Most of the branches are discrete constituents, though Central is a residual grouping and there are doubts about some of the purported
Ninzic languages
The dozen or so Ninzic languages are a branch of the Plateau family spoken in central Nigeria.
Classification
There is little data on the Ninzic languages, and it is not clear that all of the following languages are related. Blench (2008) lists ...
. Plateau languages as a whole share a number of isoglosses, as do all branches apart from
Tarokoid
The five Tarokoid languages are a branch of the Plateau family spoken in central Nigeria, just north of the middle reaches of the Benue River. Tarok itself has 300,000 speakers, with Pe and Sur about 5,000 each. Yangkam is severely endangered, ...
.
Glottolog adds the
Yukubenic languages. Blench, however, places Yukubenic in the
Jukunoid family, following Shimizu (1980).
Gerhardt (1983)
Classification of Plateau 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, 1b (
Kainji languages)
;Plateau 2
*Yeskwa, Lungu, Koro
*Kamanton, Kagoma, Jaba cluster, Nandu-Tari
*Afuzare, Kaje, Iregwe
*Kagoro, Ataka, Katab (including Kachicheri, Kafanchan), Marwa
*Kadara, Kuturmi, Ikulu, Idong, Doka, Iku-Gora-Ankwa
;Plateau 3
*Migili (?, L. G.)
*Birom (including Aboro, Afango)
*Aten
;Plateau 4
*Ayu
*Kwanka-Boi-Bijim-Shall-Zwall
*Ninzam, Mada, Gwantu, Numana-Nunku, Nindem, Kaningkon, Kanufi
*Rukuba
;Plateau 5
*Yashi
*Eggon, Nungu, Ake, Jidda-Abu
;Plateau 6
*Pyam
*Horom
;Plateau 7
*Tarok (= Yergam)
*Bashar
*Pai
;Plateau 8
*Mabo-Barkul
;Plateau 9
*Eloyi
;Plateau 10
*Turkwam, Arum-Chesu
Note: ''Plateau 1'' languages, consisting of Plateau 1a and 1b, are now classified separately as
Kainji languages.
Language list
List of Plateau languages given by Blench (2018):
;Northwest
*
Eda
*
Edra
Edra s.p.a. is an Italian manufacturing company specialized in the creation of innovative designer furniture.
History
The name "Edra" is a modification of the Greek word "''έδρα''", meaning a place for philosophical discussion. Founded in 19 ...
*Acro
*Obiro
*Kulu
*Ẹjẹgha (Idon)
*Doka
*Ẹhwa (Iku-Gora-Ankwe)
;Beromic
*
Berom
*Cara
*Iten
*Shall-Zwall
;West-Central (area)
*Izeric
**Izere of Fobur
**Icèn, Ganàng, Fəràn
*Rigwe
*Southern Zaria (now Southern Kaduna)
*Tyapic
**
Jju
**
Tyap
**Gworok
**Takad (Attakar)
**Tyecarak (Kacicere)
**Sholyio
**Fantswam (Kafancan)
**Tyuku
*Koro
**Ashe
**Tinɔr (Waci-Myamya)
**Idũ, Gwara
**Nyankpa-Barde
*Hyamic
**Shamang
**Cori
**
Hyam
**Zhire
**Shang
*Gyongic
**Gyong (Kagoma)
**Nɡhan (Kamanton)
;Ninzic
*Ninzo
*Ce
*Bu-Niŋkada
*Mada
*Numana-Nunku-Gwantu-Numbu
*Ningye-Ninka
*Anib
*Ninkyob
*Nindem
*Nungu
*Ayu
;Ndunic
*Ndun (Tari)
;Alumic
*Toro, Alumu-Təsu
*Hasha
*Sambe
;Southern
*Eggonic
**Eggon
**Ake
*Jilic
**Jili
**Jijili
;Southeastern (?)
*Fyem
*Horom
*Bo-Rukul
;Tarokoid
*Tarok
*Pe (Pai)
*Kwang-Ya-Bijim-Legeri
*Yaŋkam (Bashar)
*Sur (Tapshin)
;Eloyi
Nisam is a presumed Plateau language once spoken in Nince Village, Kaduna State, but its place within the Plateau branch cannot be ascertained due to the lack of linguistic data. In 2005, there was only one speaker of Nisam.
[Blench, Roger M. 2012]
Akpondu, Nigbo, Bəbər and Nisam: moribund or extinct languages of central Nigeria Babur
Morphology
Proto-Plateau nominal prefixes:
* *ni- (corresponding to Bantu noun class 9 *n- for animals and inanimate objects)
* *V- for person, *bV- for people
* *N- prefixes, homorganic with the following consonant
* *nV- ~ *mV- (both singular and plural), which mark liquids, mass nouns, and abstract nouns
Only some of the languages have nominal classes, as the
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
T ...
have, where in others these have eroded. In many Plateau languages, many CV- prefixes have become fossilised, replaced by V- prefixes, or disappeared altogether.
The large numbers of consonants in many languages is due to the erosion of
noun-class prefixes.
In Plateau languages, adjectives and possessive forms generally follow the noun.
Reconstructions
Some Proto-Plateau quasi-reconstructions proposed by
Roger Blench (2008) are:
Numerals
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
See also
*
List of Plateau reconstructions (Wiktionary)
*
Systematic graphic of the Niger–Congo language family
Footnotes
References
*Blench (2008
''Prospecting proto-Plateau'' Manuscript.
External links
from Roger Blench
ComparaLex database with Plateau word lists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plateau Languages
