Bade (also spelled Bede, Bedde, or Bode) is a

West Chadic The West Chadic languages of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in Niger and Nigeria. They include Hausa, the most populous Chadic language and a major language of West Africa. Languages The branches of West Chadic go either by n ...

language spoken by the Bade people in

Yobe State Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

and

Jigawa State Jigawa State (Hausa: ''Jihar Jigawa'' (Fula Leydi Jigawa 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤮𞤤 𞤶𞤭𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤢) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. Created in 1991 from the northeastern-most region of Kan ...

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 ...

. Their traditional ruler is the

Emir of Bade Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremo ...

. Similar to many other Western African languages, Bade is a vulnerable language at great risk of extinction. With 250,000 speakers, the language and the culture of the Bade people have suffered over the last several years. As the language continues to fade, the culture and historic value associated with the language perishes as well. The local dialect is shifting from Bade to Hausa. Across West Africa, the impact on local communities through the loss of the indigenous tongues will be significant. The endangerment of the Bade language represents the worldwide

language diversity Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

that is at risk. Many African languages have only received little linguistic attention, impacting these

African languages The languages of Africa are divided into several major language families: * Niger–Congo or perhaps Atlantic–Congo languages (includes Bantu and non-Bantu, and possibly Mande and others) are spoken in West, Central, Southeast and Southern A ...

Classification

Bade is classified under the following categories:

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

, Chadic, West, B, B.1, Bade Proper.

History

While historical information about the Bade language is limited in scope, many words in the Bade language take root in the Kanuri language. The Kanuri language is primarily spoken in West Africa, including: Nigeria and Chad. Bade and Ngizim have borrowed a number of words from the Kanuri language. According to traditional accounts, the Bade language itself originates from the Badr of Yemen and the

Prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

purportedly drove the Bade people out after a failure to pray. Currently, as one of the many Nigerian endangered languages, bade serves as a local dialect. In general, Nigerian languages comprise the wealth of linguistic diversity that exists in the country. Over the years, colonization has also played a role in the deteroriation of local languages.

Geographic distribution

The speakers of the Bade language are centered in Nigeria. It is spoken in the northern part of Yobe State, Nigeria.

Official status

The language is not the official language of Nigeria or any other country.

Dialects/varieties

There are three dialects of the Bade language that coincide with regions: * Gashua Bade (Mazgarwa) * Southern Bade (Bade-Kado) * Western Bade (Amshi, Maagwaram, Shirawa)

Phonology

Most West Chadic languages have a similar consonant inventory separated into eight major groups: labialized laryngeal, laryngeal, labialized velar, velar, lateral, alveopalatal, alveolar, and labial. In the Bade/Ngizim languages, the

glottal stop The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...

plays no role, but the vowel hiatus relies on

elision In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run toget ...

and

coalescence Coalescence may refer to: * Coalescence (chemistry), the process by which two or more separate masses of miscible substances seem to "pull" each other together should they make the slightest contact * Coalescence (computer science), the merging of ...

. The sounds also feature a "yawning" and has a shift from fricative to stop.

Grammar

The grammar for the Bade language is consistent with the Ngizim language.

Morphology and syntax

The Bade/Ngizim languages slightly differ from other Chadic languages. Bade and Ngizim have long vowels in closed syllables. Mid vowels also have a restricted use compared to other vowels. Mid vowels will rather appear as loanwords from other languages. The language preserves

diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...

s in both native and loanwords.

Vocabulary

The Bade language has strong influence from the

Kanuri language Kanuri () is a dialect continuum spoken in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as in small minorities in southern Libya and by a diaspora in Sudan. Background At the turn of the 21st century, its two main dialects, Manga Kanuri and Yerw ...

. There are many loanwords from Kanuri to West Chadic languages, including Bade. Bade is commonly grouped with the Ngizim language. As an example, the word "healthy" is "nga" in the Kanuri language and 'ngā' in the Ngizim language. More recently, the Hausa language has influenced the Bade language.

Fish names

Below are some fish names of the

Hadejia-Nguru wetlands 300px, Yobe River catchment area showing location of the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands in Yobe State in northern Nigeria, which include Nguru Lake, are ecologically and economically important. They are threatened by reduced r ...

in Bade, along with their

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

and Manga Kanuri equivalent names. Note that many of the species have not been observed recently, due to the drying up of the region. :

Writing system

The Bade language uses a Latin script writing script. The Latin script is the most widely used writing system in the world, serving as the system for the English language as well. The letter R̃ is only used in the Gashua dialect.

References

Sources

External links

UCLA resources on the Bade language

Bade phonology and morphologyBade word listBade-English-Hausa Dictionary

OLAC resources in and about the Bade language
{{authority control West Chadic languages Languages of Nigeria Tonal languages