Tikar (also called Tigé, Tigré or Tikari) is a
Northern Bantoid
Northern Bantoid (or North Bantoid) is a branch of the Bantoid languages. It consists of the Mambiloid, Dakoid, and Tikar languages of eastern Nigeria and west-central Cameroon.
History
A proposal that divided Bantoid into North and South Bant ...
,
semi-Bantu Semi-Bantu or Semibantu is an outdated term used for specific inhabitants of the Western grassfields of Cameroon (portions of the Adamawa, West, Northwest, and Southwest regions), who speak languages that have certain characteristics to the Bantu ...
language that is spoken in
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
by the
Tikar people, as well as by the
Bedzan Pygmies, who speak their own dialect of the language''.''
A recent hypothesis by
Roger Blench
Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and works ...
suggests that the Tikar language could be a divergent language in the
Niger-Congo language family with an uncertain origin.
Classification
The little evidence available suggests that it is most closely related to the
Mambiloid
The twelve Mambiloid languages are languages spoken by the Mambila and related peoples mostly in eastern Nigeria and in Cameroon. In Nigeria the largest group is Mambila (there is also a small Mambila population in Cameroon). In Cameroon the la ...
and
Dakoid languages
The Dakoid languages are a branch of the Northern Bantoid languages spoken in Taraba and Adamawa states of eastern Nigeria.
Languages
*Gaa–Dong
** Donga (Dong)
** Gaa (Tiba)
*Daka–Taram
** Taram
** Daka (a dialect cluster
A dialect co ...
.
Dialects
The Tikar language has four dialects, including ''Tikari'', ''Tigé'', and ''Túmú''.
References
Northern Bantoid languages
Languages of Cameroon
African Pygmies
Tikar people
{{BenueCongo-lang-stub