Doyayo (ethnonym: ''Dowayo'') is a language of the
Duru branch of
Adamawa languages
The Adamawa languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in central Africa, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people (as of 19 ...
spoken in Cameroon.
''Doyayo'' (Doo²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's mouth'; alternatively Doo²waa²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's child's mouth') is spoken by the Dowayo (or Doo²waa²³yɔ¹ 'man's child') ethnic group.
Names
According to ''ALCAM'' (2012), Doayo, which has 18,000 speakers, is the main language of the northern part of Poli, Cameroon, Poli commune (in Faro department, Northern Region).
Taara is spoken in the mountains west of Poli, Cameroon, Poli, and Marka in the plains further northwest in Tcheboa commune, Bénoué department.
The term ''Namchi'', which means "crushed ones" or "those who crush [millet for us]" in Fulfulde, is a cover term that refers not only to the Doayo, but also its neighbors Duupa language, Duupa and Dugun language, Dugun (the latter two are both Dii languages).
Joseph Greenberg's "''Sewe''" is in fact a variety of the Doayo language documented by Griaule. The name comes from the informant's village, Sewe.
Dialects
Doyayo dialects are:
[Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich (2015)]
Doyayo
*Markɛ (spoken in the northwestern plains)
*Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ of Poli
*Southern Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ (spoken in the mountains to the south)
*Sewe (Séwé)
(Note that there are two distinct Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ dialects.)
Blench (2004) considers the Sewe dialect to be a separate language, no more closely related to Dowayo than to Koma and Vere.
References
*Roger Blench, 2004
List of Adamawa languages(ms)
{{Authority control
Duru languages
Languages of Cameroon