Pongu (Pangu), or Rin, is a Kainji language spoken in

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 ...

. There are about 20,000 speakers. Their main centre is in Pangu Gari town of

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...

, about 20 kilometres southeast of

Tegina Tegina is a town in Rafi LGA, Niger State, Nigeria. Various Kainji languages are spoken in and around Tegina. In 2021 a mass kidnapping of children by gunmen occurred at the end of May, at least 150 students went missing. Villages Villages in ...

. In Niger state, Rafi local government Kagara

Clans

There are 8 Rin clans. They speak slightly different but mutually comprehensible dialects. *Ca-su *Ca-undu *A-sebi *Ca-gere = Ca-majere *A-baba = U-bwɔbwɔ *A-wusi = A-kwa *A-zhiga *A-waga = Awәgә The Awәgә may have been a different ethnic group that was assimilated into the Rin group. Awәgә was a distinct language related to Rin, and used to be spoken in some villages to the east of Zungeru. However, today it is nearly extinct. Blench (2012) was able to record a semi-speaker in Dikko village, near Luwa town, Rafi LGA. Two fluent speakers were reported in Gidan Gambo, near Pongu Gari.

Bibliography

*Dettweiler, Stephen and Sonia Dettweiler (2002) 'Sociolinguistic survey of the Pongu people'
SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2002-040

Clans

Bibliography

References

Further reading