The twelve Mambiloid languages are languages spoken by the
Mambila and related peoples mostly in eastern
Nigeria
Nigeria, 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 Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
and in
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. In Nigeria the largest group is Mambila (there is also a small Mambila population in Cameroon). In Cameroon the largest group is Vute.
Languages
The following classification follows Blench (2011). Languages with (?) are not listed in that source, but close to other languages according to ''Ethnologue''. Ndoro–Fam may be a separate branch of Benue–Congo.
*Mambiloid
**
Ndoola (Ndoro)
**Mambiloid proper
***
Nizaa (Suga)
***Mambila–Konja
****Konja:
Kwanja, ?
Twendi
****Mambila–Vute
*****Mambila–Kamkam
******Magu–Kamkam–Kila:
Mbongno,
Mvanip (Mvano), ?
Somyev, ?
Ndunda
******
Mambila
*****Tep–Vute
******
Tep
******Vute:
Vute
Vute is a Mambiloid language of Cameroon and Gabon, with a thousand speakers in Nigeria. The orthography was standardized on March 9, 1979. Noted dialect clusters are eastern, central, and Doume.
Phonology
Consonants
Consonants in Vute are ...
,
Wawa
''Ethnologue'' also lists
Njerep, which most likely lies somewhere in the Mambila–Kamkam branch. The extinct
Yeni,
Luo and
Kasabe languages were apparently Mambiloid, the first two close to Njerep.
Fam is sometimes classified with Ndoro, but appears to be more divergent.
The unclassified language
Bung
A stopper, bung, or cork is a cylindrical or conical closure used to seal a container, such as a bottle, tube, or barrel.
Description
Unlike a lid or bottle cap, which encloses a container from the outside without displacing the inner v ...
shows its strongest resemblance to be with the Ndung dialect of
Kwanja. It also has words in common with other Mambiloid languages such as
Tep,
Somyev and
Vute
Vute is a Mambiloid language of Cameroon and Gabon, with a thousand speakers in Nigeria. The orthography was standardized on March 9, 1979. Noted dialect clusters are eastern, central, and Doume.
Phonology
Consonants
Consonants in Vute are ...
, while a number of words' origins remain unclear (possibly
Adamawan).
[Bruce Connell, 1997: Moribund Languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon Borderland](_blank)
Names and locations (Nigeria)
Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations (in
Nigeria
Nigeria, 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 Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
only) from Blench (2019).
References
* Blench, Roger, 2011
'The membership and internal structure of Bantoid and the border with Bantu' ''Bantu IV'', Humboldt University, Berlin.
External links
*Marieke Martin, 2011
'The Erosion of Noun Classes in Mambiloid'
{{Niger-Congo branches
Northern Bantoid languages