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Dendi Language
Dendi is a Songhay language used as a trade language across northern Benin (along the Niger River). It forms a dialect cluster with Zarma and Koyraboro Senni but it is heavily influenced by Bariba. Dendi has been described as a four-tone language. Distribution Dendi is mainly spoken in Northern Benin, but also in other parts of Benin, and neighbouring countries. The Dendi people are the main group in the Departments of Alibori, Borgou, Donga, and Atakora. In Nigeria, the Dendi people are found in Bordering States ( Kebbi, Kwara, Niger, and Sokoto), and in other parts of Nigeria. They are usually referred by the Hausa name Dendawa (which is also used for the Songhai people The Songhai people ( autonym: Ayneha) are an ethnolinguistic group in West Africa who speak the various Songhai languages. Their history and ''lingua franca'' is linked to the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16 ...). Phonology Consonants * /r/ may also be he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of , and its population in was estimated to be approximately million. It is a tropical country with an economy heavily dependent on agriculture and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton. From the 17th to the 19th century, political entities in the area included the Kingdom of Dahomey, the city-state of Porto-Novo#History, Porto Novo, and other states to the north. This region was referred to as the Slave Coast of West Africa from the early 17th century due ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songhay Language
The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages (, or ) are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, they are spoken in the cities of Timbuktu, Djenné, Niamey, Gao, Tillaberi, Dosso, Parakou, Kandi, Natitingou, Djougou, Malanville, Gorom-Gorom, In-Gall and Tabelbala. They have been widely used as a ''lingua franca'' in that region ever since the era of the Songhai Empire. In Mali, the government has officially adopted the dialect of Gao (east of Timbuktu) as the dialect to be used as a medium of primary education. Some Songhay languages have little to no mutual intelligibility between each other. For example, Koyraboro Senni, spoken in Gao, is unintelligible to speakers of Zarma in Niger, according to ''Ethnologue''. However, Songhoyboro Ciine, Zarma, and Dendi have high mutual intelligibility within Niger. For linguists, a maj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niger State
Niger State is a state in the North Central (Nigeria), North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory, to the north by Kebbi State and Zamfara State, and to the south by Kogi State, Kogi and Kwara State, Kwara states, while its western border makes up part of the Benin–Nigeria border, international border with Benin. It is the List of Nigerian states by area, largest States of Nigeria, state in the country by area. The state capital is Minna, and the state is divided into 25 local government areas. Other major cities include Bida, Kontagora, and Suleja. Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Niger is the List of Nigerian states by population, eleventh most populous with an estimated population of about 6.7 million as of 2020. Geographically, the state is split between the West Sudanian savanna in the east and the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic List of ecoregions in Nigeria, ecoregion in the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kwara
Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its capital is the city of Ilorin and the state has 16 local government areas. Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kwara is the ninth largest in area but the sixth least populous with an estimated population of about 3.2 million as of 2016. Geographically, Kwara is split between the West Sudanian savanna in the east and the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion in the rest of the state. Important geographic features include rivers with the Niger flowing along the northern border into Lake Jeba before continuing as the border while the Awun, Asa, Aluko, and Oyun rivers flow through the interior. In the far northwest of the state is the Borgu section of the Kainji National Park, a large national park that contains populations of grey heron, kob, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kebbi State
Kebbi State (; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in northwestern Nigeria, bordered to the east and north by the states of Sokoto and Zamfara, and to the south by Niger State while its western border forms part of the national borders with Benin Republic and Niger. Named for the city of Birnin Kebbi—the state's capital and largest city—Kebbi State was formed from a part of Sokoto State on 27 August 1991. Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kebbi is the tenth largest in area and 17th most populous with an estimated population of about 6 million as of 2023. Geographically, the state is within the tropical West Sudanian savanna ecoregion. Important geographic features include the Sokoto River which flows through Kebbi into the River Niger, which continues south before reaching Kainji Lake. Among the state's nature are a number of fish species exhibited during the massive Argungu Fishing Festival along with hippopotamus, West Afric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atakora Department
Atakora (also spelled Atacora, named for the Atakora Mountains) is the northwesternmost department of Benin. Externally it borders Togo to the west and Burkina Faso to the north; internally it borders the departments of Alibori, Borgou and Donga. Major towns in the Atakora include Natitingou and Tanguiéta, and the major tourist areas include the Tata Somba houses, Pendjari National Park, and various waterfalls. The department of Atakora was bifurcated in 1999, with its southern territory removed to form the newly created Donga Department. The capital of Atakora Department is Natitingou, which lies among the Atakora Mountains. , the total population of the department was 772,262, with 380,448 males and 391,814 females. The proportion of women was 50.70%. The total rural population was 62.80%, while the urban population was 37.20%. The total labour force in the department was 170,333, of which 27.20% were women. The proportion of households with no level of education wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donga Department
Donga is one of the twelve departments of Benin; its capital is Djougou, the fourth largest city in the country. The department of Donga was created in 1999 when it was split off from Atakora Department. Donga is subdivided into five communes, each centered at one of the principal towns: Bassila, Copargo, Djougou Rural, Djougou Urban and Ouaké. , the total population of the department was 543,130, with 270,754 males and 272,376 females. The proportion of women was 50.10%. The total rural population was 57.90%, while the urban population was 42.10%. The total labour force in the department was 120,021, of which 24.20% were women. The proportion of households with no level of education was 72.50%. Geography Donga Department, with an area of , is located in north-central Benin, bordering Atakora Department to the north, Borgou Department to the east, Collines Department to the south, and Togo to the west. The northwest region of Benin consists mostly of forested mount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borgou
Borgou is one of the twelve departments of Benin. Borgou borders the country of Nigeria and the departments of Alibori, Atakora, Collines and Donga. The capital of Borgou is Parakou. The department of Borgou was bifurcated in 1999, with its northern territory transferred to the newly created Alibori Department. According to the 2013 census, the total population of the department was 1,214,249, with 607,013 males and 607,236 females. The proportion of women was 50.00%. The total rural population was 56.40%, while the urban population was 43.60%. The total labour force in the department was 271,652, of which 25.20% were women. The proportion of households with no level of education was 64.30%. Geography Borgou borders Alibori Department to the north, Nigeria to the east, Collines Department to the south, and Donga Department and Atakora Department to the west. Geographically, the department is part of the larger Borg(o)u region divided by the Benin–Nigeria border, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alibori
Alibori is the largest and northernmost department (French: ''département'') of Benin. Externally the department borders the countries of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria, and internally the departments of Atakora and Borgou. The department of Alibori was created in 1999 when it was split off from Borgou Department and is named after the Alibori River. , the total population of the department was 867,463, with 431,357 males and 436,106 females. The proportion of women was 50.30%. The total rural population was 75.70%, while the urban population was 24.30%. The total labour force in the department was 201,622, of which 25.40% were women. The proportion of households with no level of education was 83.70%. Geography Alibori borders Niger to the north, Nigeria to the east, Borgou Department to the south, Atakora Department to the west, and Burkina Faso to the north-west. Alibori is a fertile region consisting of highland and savannah. Cotton, maize and cassava are the major c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendi People
The Dendi are an ethnic group located in Benin, Niger, Nigeria and northern Togo mainly in the plains of the Niger River. They are part of the Songhai people, and were an integral part of the Songhai Empire as the Dendi province or Dendiganda. Derived from the Songhay language, the term "Dendi" translates to "down the river." The community consists of 195,633 people. Among them, only 4,505 live in Nigeria. In Niger they live in around the city of Gaya. Their mother tongue is Dendi. History The Dendi and the Songhai descended from the ancient kingdom of Za, whose presence has been recorded since the eighth century between the towns of Kukiya and Gao in modern Mali. In 1010, the Arabs came to the territory. They converted the people to Islam, which was then mixed with their indigenous religion (based on the belief of the holy rivers, soil and hunting). The Songhay Empire collapsed at the end of the sixteenth century, when Morocco conquered the territory. Culture The ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch (music), pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or to inflection, inflect words. All oral languages use pitch to express emotional and other para-linguistic information and to convey emphasis, contrast and other such features in what is called intonation (linguistics), intonation, but not all languages use tones to distinguish words or their inflections, analogously to consonants and vowels. Languages that have this feature are called tonal languages; the distinctive tone patterns of such a language are sometimes called tonemes, by analogy with ''phoneme''. Tonal languages are common in East Asia, East and Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific islands, Pacific. Tonal languages are different from pitch-accent languages in that tonal languages can have each syllable with an independent tone whilst pitch-accent languages may have one syllable in a word or morpheme that is more prominent t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bariba Language
Bariba, also known as Baatonum, is the language of the Bariba people and was the language of the state of Borgu. The native speakers are called Baatombu (singular Baatonu), Barba, Baruba, Berba and a number of various other names and spellings. It is primarily spoken in Benin, but also across the border in adjacent Kwara State and Niger State, a percentage of speakers are also found in Saki West local government area of Oyo State Nigeria, and some Bariba are in Togo, Burkina Faso and Niger. Welmers (1952) reported the Bariba language as spoken in the cities of Nikki, Parakou, Kandi, and Natitingou. Names The language can be known by different names: *the Bariba people call their language Baatɔnum; *the Yoruba people call the language Baruba; *the Hausa people refer to the language as Borganci (also spelled Borganchi) after Borgu where it is spoken; *the names in the Busa language and the Boko language are Borgu and Borgunya. Other names include Barba or Berba. One pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
