Massa (or Masana, Masa) is a
Chadic language spoken in southern
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...
and northern
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...
by the
Masa people
Masa people, also called Masana, Banana, or Yagoua are a Chadic ethnic group in Cameroon and Chad.
The Masa have an estimated population of 266,000 to 469,000, with the majority residing in Cameroon. Most of them speak Masana. The Masa form p ...
. It has approximately 200,000 speakers.
Dialects are Bongor, Bugudum (Budugum), Domo, Gizay, Gumay, Ham, Walia, Wina (Viri), Yagwa.
Kim
Kim or KIM may refer to:
Names
* Kim (given name)
* Kim (surname)
** Kim (Korean surname)
*** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties
**** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948
** Kim, Vietnamese ...
, a neighbouring language, was once misclassified as Masa.
Distribution
Masa is spoken in the southern part of
Mayo-Danay department in the Far North Region, in the arrondissements of Yagoua, Kalfou, Wina, Yele, and Guéré.
Central Masa is spoken along the Logone River, with four varieties. The varieties, as listed from north to south, are: Yagwa (spoken around Yagoua), Domo (in Domo village), Walya, and Buguëum.
Western Masa includes Gizay, spoken around Guéré, and Viri (Wina), former ethnic Tupuri who had shifted to the Masa language.
The Muzuk dialect, which has long been considered a Munjuk dialect (ALCAM 1983), is in fact a Masa dialect since it is clearly mutually intelligible with the other Masa varieties (Ousmanou 2007). The speakers of Muzuk are bilingual, and speaking the Muzuk dialect of Masa, as well as Munjuk. It is spoken in the drier areas of the West (Guidigis,
Mayo-Kani, Far North Region).
Masa is spoken in Cameroon and Chad, with 103,000 speakers in Cameroon.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
References
Languages of Chad
Mayo-Kebbi Est Region
Languages of Cameroon
Far North Region (Cameroon)
Chadic languages
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