Warji (Warjawa) or Sirzakwai is an

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

language spoken in

Bauchi State Bauchi State (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the ea ...

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 o ...

. Speakers are shifting to Hausa.

Distribution

Warji is spoken in: *Ganjuwa district,

Darazo Darazo is a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Darazo. Many Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, ...

LGA,

*Warji district, Ningi LGA,

Birnin Kudu Birnin Kudu is a town and a Local Government Area in the south of Jigawa State, Nigeria, some 120 kilometres south-east of Kano. As of 2006 the town of Birnin Kudu had an estimated population of 419,800 and is the most populous local government i ...

LGA,

Jigawa State Jigawa State (Hausa: ''Jihar Jigawa'' (Fula Leydi Jigawa 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤮𞤤 𞤶𞤭𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤢) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. Created in 1991 from the northeastern-most region of Kan ...

Morphology

Within the

Bade–Warji 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 ...

, Warji has the most complex nominal plural marking system.Blench, Roger. 2021.
The erosion of number marking in West Chadic Roger Blench
'. WOCAL, Leiden. Plurals are marked by the following suffixes.Blench, Roger
Wordlist of the Sirzakwai (Warji) language with Hausa and English equivalents
'. *-''tsǝ'' *-''sA'' (-''sǝ'', -''sa'') *-''Aŋsǝ'' (-''ǝŋsǝ'', -''aŋsǝ'') *-''(aŋ)ʃi'' (-''shi'', -''aŋshi''; stem-final -''i'' is assimilated) These may be all allomorphs of a single suffix, with optional inserted nasals. Suppletive nominal plurals are:

Notes

{{West Chadic languages Languages of Nigeria West Chadic languages