Daka (Dakka, Dekka, rarely Deng or Tikk) is one of two languages spoken by the
Chamba people
The Chamba are a significant ethnic group in the north eastern Nigeria. The Chamba are located between present day Nigeria and Cameroon. The closest Chamba neighbours are the Mumuye, the Jukun and Kutep people. In Cameroon, the successors of Lek ...
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 ...
, the other being
Chamba Leko.
Varieties
Daka is a
dialect cluster. The Chamba dialect is called Chamba Daka (or ''Samba, Tsamba, Tchamba, Sama, Jama Daka''; also Nakanyare) and constitutes 90% of speakers. Chamba Daka is also called ''Sámá Mūm''.
Other dialects are ''Dirim'' (Dirin, Dirrim), ''Lamja, Dengsa,'' and ''Tola''. Dirim and Lamja–Dengsa–Tola have separate
ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
coding, but ''Ethnologue'' notes that they are 'close to Samba Daka and may be a dialect' or 'may not be sufficiently distinct from Samba Daka to be a separate language', and actually lists Dirim as a dialect under Daka. Blench (2011) lists Dirim as coordinate with other Daka varieties: Nnakenyare, Mapeo, Jangani, Lamja, Dirim, suggesting that if Lamja and Dirim are considered separate languages, as in ''Ethnologue'', then Samba Daka itself needs to be broken up into three additional languages.
Blench lists the following varieties as Samba Daka dialects.
*Samba Jangani
*Samba Nnakenyare
*Samba of Mapeo
Classification
Greenberg placed Samba Daka within his
Adamawa proposal, as group G3, but Bennett (1983) demonstrated to general satisfaction that it is a
Benue–Congo language, though its placement within Benue–Congo is disputed. Blench (2011) considers it to be Bantoid. Boyd (ms), however, considers Daka an isolate branch within Niger–Congo (Blench 2008). Blench (2011) lists
Taram as a separate, though closely related, language.
Phonology
Vowels
Consonants
* /ɾ/ may also occur as trilled
* /d͡z/ can have an allophone of
References
Further reading
*Blench (2008
''Prospecting proto-Plateau'' Manuscript.
* Blench, Roger, 2011
'The membership and internal structure of Bantoid and the border with Bantu' ''Bantu IV'', Humboldt University, Berlin.
External links
{{Languages of Nigeria
Adamawa languages
Northern Bantoid languages
Languages of Nigeria