The Kainji languages are a group of about 60 related languages spoken in west-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 ...
. They form part of the Central Nigerian (Platoid) branch of
Benue–Congo.
Demographics
Four of the most widely spoken Kainji languages are
Tsuvadi (150,000),
Cishingini and
Tsishingini (100,000 each)—all from the
Kambari branch; and
Clela (C'lela, Lela) (100,000), of the
Northwest Kainji branch. In total, there were about one million speakers of Kainji languages (1990s estimate) 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 ...
.
History
Proto-Kainji is estimated by Blench (2012) to be 3,000 to 4,000 years old. Its broken distribution today is likely due to the historical northward expansion of the
Nupoid languages.
Morphology
Proto-Kainji nominal prefixes:
* *mV- for liquids and other mass nouns
* *u- for person, *ba- for people
* *kV- for diminutive and perhaps also augmentative; also found in some
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 ...
Classification
The most divergent of the Kainji languages are
Reshe,
Laru and
Lopa, which may form a branch together. Subclassification of the other branches is not yet clear. A bipartite division between East Kainji and West Kainji is no longer maintained, with West Kainji now being
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
.
Blench (2018)
Most recent Kainji classification by Blench (2018:64):
[Blench, Roger M. 2018. Nominal affixing in the Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria. In John R. Watters (ed.), East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs, 59–106. Berlin: Language Science Press. ]
*Lake
**''
Reshe''
**Upper Niger
***''
Rop''
***''
Shen'', ''Shuba''
*Central
**
Northwest Kainji
**
Kambari, ''
Cicipu''
**
East Kainji
**
Kamuku,
Shiroro,
Basa
Blench (2012)
Blench's (2012) classification is:
*Lakes:
Reshe;
Laru (Shen),
Lopa (Rerang)
*Kainji proper (Central)
**
Northwest Kainji (Lela)
**(branch)
***
Kambari, ''
Cicipu''
***
Basa,
East Kainji
***
Kamuku,
Shiroro
McGill (2012)
A revised classification of the Kainji languages by McGill (2012) splits Kainji into the ''Lake'' and ''Central'' branches.
[McGill, Stuart. 2012. The Kainji languages. Ms, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 30 August 2012.]
;Kainji
* Lake
**
Reshe
** Upper Niger
***
Sengwe/
Laru
***
Oleran/
Lopa:
Rop,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
* Central
**
Basa, Eastern
** Northwest
***
Damakawa
***
C'lela
***
Hun
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
-
Saare/
Duka;
Wuri-
Gwamhi-
Mba,
Ma'in
The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in ( Minaean: ''Maʿīn''; modern Arabic ''Maʿīn'') in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 10th century BCE-150 BCE. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad b ...
/
Fakai
**
Kambari
***
Cicipu
*** West:
Gaushi/
Auna,
Kimba,
Wunci/
Agwara
*** East:
Shingini/
Salka,
Va'di,
Bangi
** Nuclear
***
Shiroro
****
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 ...
: Mun-Wayam, Rubo-Supana
****
Gurmana
Gurmana is a Kainji language of Gurmana village in Shiroro LGA, Niger State, Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is ...
****
Rin Rin may refer to:
*, yen, former Japanese currency
*Rin (given name)
*Rin (detergent), a brand of detergent sold by Unilever
*Rin, a Japanese standing bell
* ''Mnemosyne'' (anime) or ''RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne'', an anime
*''Rin!'' (凛!), a Jap ...
/
Pongu
Pongu (Pangu), or Rin, is a Kainji language spoken in Nigeria. There are about 20,000 speakers. Their main centre is in Pangu Gari town of Niger State, about 20 kilometres southeast of Tegina. In Niger state, Rafi local government Kagara
Cla ...
,
Waga
****
Fungwa/
Ura
***
Kamuku-
Hunwarya/
Ngwoi
****
Hunwarya/
Ngwoi
****
Kamuku
*****
Regi-
Cinda-
Kuki
*****
Rogo
Rogo is a Local Government Area in Kano State, Nigeria. Its headquarter is in the town of Rogo.
It has an area of 802 km and a population of 227,742 (2006 census) and it is bordering Karaye and Kiru Local Governments from East, Makarfi Local ...
-
Shiyabe,
Zubazuba-
East Acipa
*****
Shama
Gerhardt (1983)
Classification of ''Plateau 1a'' (now West Kainji) and ''Plateau 1b'' (now East Kainji) languages by Gerhardt (1983), based on Maddieson (1972):
[Maddieson, Ian. 1972. ''The Benue-Congo Languages of Nigeria''. Sheet 1 and 2: ''Plateau''. Mimeographed paper. Ibadan.]
;Plateau 1a
*Laru-Lopa
*Reshe
*Kambari cluster
*Ngwoi, Kamuku cluster, Bassa-Kontagora, Ashaganna
*Bassa-Kaduna, Bassa-Kuta, Gurmana, Pongo, Baushi, Ura, Bassa-Kwomu
*Dakarkari, Duka, Pəku-Kəri-Wipsi cluster, Lyase
;Plateau 1b
*Kuda-Chamo, Butu-Ningi, Gyema, Taura, Lemoro-Sanga, Janji, Shani, Buji-Ibunu-Jere-Gus, Anaguta
*Kuzamaini, Kurama, Rumaya, Ruruma, Binawa, Kono, Surubu
*Kaivi, Kiballo, Kitimi, Kinuku, Dungi, Gure-Kahugu
*Amo
Names and locations
Below is a comprehensive list of Kainji language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).
Note: ''West Kainji'' is geographical rather than genealogical.
East Kainji
West Kainji
Numerals
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
References
*Blench, Roger. 2012
The Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria(Roger Blench)
External links
ComparaLex database with Kainji word lists
{{Niger-Congo branches
Benue–Congo languages