Plateau languages

Plateau languages

Infobox Language family
name=Plateau
region=Nigeria
familycolor=Niger-Congo
fam2=Atlantic-Congo
fam3=Benue-Congo
child1=
The forty or so Plateau (or Platoid) languages are spoken by 3.5 million people on the Jos Plateau and in adjacent areas in Central Nigeria. They are also called Central Nigerian languages. They are part of the Benue-Congo family, which is in turn part of the Benue-Congo family. The original formulation, which included the Jukunoid languages and the Kainji languages was a geographic rather than genealogical grouping, but the remainder may form a valid family.

Plateau languags

Excluding the Kainji and Jukunoid languages, which are clearly not close, there are six groups which may be more closely related to each other than they are to other branches of Benue-Congo:

*The North Plateau languages, such as Kadara (40 000)

*The West Plateau languages are spoken by about 750 000 speakers. The most important ones are Kwanka (220 000), Eggon (150 000), Jaba (100 000), Mada (100 000)

*The Central Plateau group with half a million of speakers contains the languages Kaje = Jju (300 000) and Katab (Tyap) (130 000)

*The largest language of the South Plateau group (about 400 000) is Berom with 300 000 speakers.

*The Tarok group consists of little more than the Tarok language itself with 300 000 speakers.

*The small Fyam and Barkul languages.

Characteristics

Only some of the languages have nominal classes, as the Bantu languages have. Adjectives and possessive forms generally follow the noun.

ee also

*

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=nigeria ethnologue.com on Nigeria]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Central Plateau languages — Central Plateau Geographic distribution: Nigeria Linguistic classification: Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Plateau Central Plate …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Switzerland — Official language(s) …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of the United States — Official language(s) none Main language(s) English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo European 3.8%, Asian …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Canada — Languages of Canada[1] Official language(s) English (58%) and French (22%) Indigenous language(s) Abenaki, A …   Wikipedia

  • Plateau Penutian languages — Infobox Language family name=Plateau Penutian altname=Shahapwailutan, Lepitan region=Pacific Northwest familycolor=American family=Plateau Penutian child1= Klamath child2= Molala child3=Sahaptian languages map caption=Pre contact distribution of… …   Wikipedia

  • Plateau Indian — Any member of various North American Indian peoples that inhabited the high plateau between the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Cascade Range on the west. The Plateau culture was not stable. By AD 1200–1300 the classic phase had emerged,… …   Universalium

  • Plateau-Sprachen — Die Plateau Sprachen bilden eine Untergruppe der platoiden Sprachen, eines Zweiges der Benue Kongo Sprachen, die ihrerseits zum Niger Kongo gehören. Die rund 40 Plateau Sprachen werden von etwa zwei Millionen Menschen in Nordwest und Zentral… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Languages of India — Indian languages redirects here. For languages of Americans, see Indigenous languages of the Americas. Languages of India Official language(s) Standard Hindi written in the Devanāgarī script (the Indian Constitution recognises English as a… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages with official status in India — The official language of the Indian Union is Hindi with English as an additional language for official work;[1] states in India can legislate their own official languages.[1] Neither the Constitution of India, nor any Indian law defines any… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Nigeria — Linguistic map of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”