The Angas, Angas–Sura, or Central West Chadic languages (also known as A.3 West Chadic) are a branch of

West Chadic languages 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 ...

spoken in

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

, north-central

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 of G ...

Languages

The Angas languages are:Blench, Roger. 2017
Current research on the A3 West Chadic languages
;Angas *Ngasic: Ngas (Angas), Belnəng; ? Miler *Mwaghavulic: Mwaghavul, Mupun (Mapun), Takas (Toos); Cakfem-Mushere * Miship (Chip) *Pan cluster ** Chakato;

Jorto Chakato (Jakato �àkàtɔ̀or Jakattoe) is a West Chadic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. It was identified by Roger Blench in 2016.Blench, Roger. 2017. Current research on the A3 West Chadic languages'. It is spoken by about 500 peop ...

(spurious) ** Jipal, Mernyang (Mirriam), Kwagallak, Kofyar (Doemak), Bwol, Goram, Jibyal * Nteng *Tel (Tɛɛl, Montol) *Talic: Tal, Pyapun, Koenoem *Goemaic: Goemai * Yiwom (Ywom, Gerka) Note that in the language names, orthographic '' oe'' stands for the

mid central vowel The mid central vowel (also known as schwa) is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a rotated lowercase letter e. While the ''Handbook of the ...

ə, a practice that had been adopted by missionaries in the

Shendam Shendam is a Local Government Area in Plateau State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Shendam. It is bordered by Ibi Taraba State to the south, Qua'an Pan to the east, Pankshin to the north, and Mikang to the west. Shendam town is ...

area during the 1930s, such as Father E. Sirlinger. Unlike many other

, Angas languages do not have complex nominal and verbal morphology. Ywom is the most divergent language.Blench, Roger. 2021.
West Chadic classification 2021
'. Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.

Phonology

Some phonological characteristics that are typical of the Chadic A3 languages: * Palatalised consonants *

Implosive consonant Implosive consonants are a group of stop consonants (and possibly also some affricates) with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism.''Phonetics for communication disorders.'' Martin J. Ball and Nicole Müller ...

s ɓ, ɗ *Six-vowel system consisting of i, ɨ, u, ɛ, ɔ, a *Three tone levels

Morphology

The West Chadic A3 languages have isolating morphology due to typological convergence with the

Plateau languages The forty or so Plateau languages are a tentative group of Benue–Congo languages spoken by 15 million people on the Jos Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Nasarawa State and in adjacent areas in central Nigeria. Berom and Eggon have the most speak ...

. Blench (2022) notes that there are many morphological similarities with Berom, Izere, and

Ninzic languages The dozen or so Ninzic languages are a branch of the Plateau family spoken in central Nigeria. Classification There is little data on the Ninzic languages, and it is not clear that all of the following languages are related. Blench (2008) lists ...

(such as Mada), although there are no immediately identifiable direct lexical borrowings. Although Hausa and the West Chadic A3 languages share many lexical cognates, Hausa is much more morphologically complex. This is because Hausa originated from outside the Plateau area and had thus not undergone intensive long-term contact with Plateau languages to the extent that West Chadic A3 had.Blench, Roger (2022).
Contact between West Chadic and Plateau languages: new evidence languages: new evidence
'. 11-12 November 2022, presentation given at Universität Wien. Plurals are marked with an *mV- affix throughout West Chadic A3 languages.

Lexicon

The West Chadic A3 languages are lexically innovative, having lost many common Chadic lexical roots as with the Ron and South Bauchi languages. Blench (2022) suggests that this is due to borrowing from Plateau languages that have since become extinct and/or assimilated.

Names and locations

Below is a comprehensive list of Angas language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).

References

{{Authority control West Chadic languages Languages of Nigeria