The Gwèri or Vere language Were also known as Kobo or Mom Jango, is a member of the

Duru Duru is a ward and a village in Babati Rural District of the Manyara Region of Tanzania. Duru is one of the five villages that makes up Duru ward. Thus, the name Duru is also the name of the administrative ward. The ward comprises five village ...

branch of Savanna languages. It is spoken across the northern

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 ...

n–

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 ...

ian border.

Names

Vere is a cultural and geographical cover term that may include several completely distinct language varieties. The Kobo (in three villages north of the

Chamba Leko Chamba Leko is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people, the other being Chamba Daka. It is a member of the Leko branch of Savanna languages, and is spoken across the northern Nigerian–Cameroonian border. ''Chamba'' is also spelled 'S ...

area) are the only group of people known as ''Vere'' in Cameroon. Kobo is spoken in Béka commune,

Faro department Faro is a department of North Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 11,785 km and as of 2001 had a total population of 81,472. The capital of the department lies at Poli. Subdivisions The department is divided administrat ...

, North Region. Raymond Boyd had collected data from an ethnic Samba informant in Tignère speaking a language called Mome or Nya Kopo "language of the mountain", which he had learned from his mother. The lexicon is very different from "''Kobo''" as documented by ALCAM (2012), although both are clearly

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 199 ...

. In this language, 'man' is called ''vere''. However, according to Boyd, ''Mome'' or ''Nya Kopo'' is a

Mumuye The Mumuyes are a people of Nigeria. They speak the Mumuye language. They constitute the largest tribal group in Taraba State of Nigeria and form the predominant tribes found in Zing, Yorro, Jalingo, Ardo-Kola, Lau, Gassol, Bali and Gashaka, al ...

dialect. There are approximately 4,000 Kobo speakers in Cameroon. It is also spoken in Nigeria.

Dialects

Dialects are ''Mom Jango'' and ''Momi'' (also known as ''Ziri''). These are divergent enough they probably constitute distinct languages. Kleinewillinghöfer (2012) distinguishes three Vere languages: *Mom Jango *Northern Alantika Vere *Vere Kaadam (Momi)

Distribution

Jango is spoken in the villages of Mayo Ini, Nassarwo Koma, Jumɓaare, Mantunaa, Soncha (Choncha), Bambu, DanWumba, Tɛkɛrɛ, Korkai, Gawì, Zaari, Gerta, Kaau Pindu, Garau, Giwaare, Jagu suwa, Vam guiti, Gogura, Tondiire, and Layinde.Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich (2015)
Notes on Jango (Mom Jango)

References

Duru languages Languages of Nigeria Languages of Cameroon {{AtlanticCongo-lang-stub