Ju is a language from the West Chadian branch of the Chadic language family. The language is spoken solely in

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 ...

, and had approximately 900

native speakers A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

in 1993. The language is unwritten.

Classification

Ju is part of the Guruntum (Gurdung according to the work of

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 wor ...

) group of the South Bauchi language group, and is thus similar to the Guruntum,

Tala Tala may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Tala (comics), a fictional character in DC comics *''Tala'', a 1938 volume of poetry by Gabriela Mistral *Tala (music), a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music * "Tala" (song), by Sarah Geronimo ...

, and Zangwal languages.

General Information

The Ju language is spoken primarily in the village of the same name, Ju, which lies to the south of

Bauchi Bauchi (earlier Yakoba) is a city in northeast Nigeria, the Administrative center of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plate ...

. The village is in the Bauchi local government area in the state of Bauchi. Ju shares

language border A language border or language boundary is the line separating two language areas. The term is generally meant to imply a lack of mutual intelligibility between the two languages. If two adjacent languages or dialects are mutually intelligible, no ...

s mosty with other

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 ...

; Zangwal to the north, Tala to the northwest, the Polchi language cluster to the west, and the

Kir-Balar language Kir-Balar (also known as Kir, Kirr) is a pair of closely related Afro-Asiatic languages spoken in Kir Bengbet and Kir Bajang’le, villages, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, ...

to the south. To the east, Ju borders the

sprachbund A sprachbund (, lit. "language federation"), also known as a linguistic area, area of linguistic convergence, or diffusion area, is a group of languages that share areal features resulting from geographical proximity and language contact. The lan ...

of the

Dulbu language Dulbu is one of the Bantu languages of Nigeria. Speakers are shifting to Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-st ...

. Information on the number of speakers of the Ju language is varied: in 1971, Ju had around 150 speakers, and Ethnologue measured 900 in 1993. However, the

Joshua Project The Joshua Project is a Christian organization based in Colorado Springs, United States, which seeks to coordinate the work of missionary organizations to track the ethnic groups of the world with the fewest followers of evangelical Christianity. ...

, has reported that Ju is used solely among the older generation, while the youth are switching to

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

References

External links

* * * {{West Chadic languages Languages of Nigeria Chadic languages