Platoid languages

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West Benue Congo, Platoid, Cross River Languages, North Bantoid, South Bantoid except Bantu and the northwest corner of the Bantu area

The Platoid or Central Nigerian languages form a subunit of the East Benue Congo , a branch of the Benue Congo languages which in turn belong to the Niger Congo .

The approximately 120 Platoid languages ​​are spoken by around 3.5 million people in north, northeast and central Nigeria . The center and namesake of the language group is the Jos plateau . Their subunits are the Kainji languages, Jos Plateau languages ​​(several genetic units), the tarocoid and jukunoid.

Position of the Platoid within the Niger-Congo

  • Niger-Congo
    • Volta Congo
      • South Volta Congo
        • Benue Congo
          • East Benue Congo
            • Platoid
            • Bantoid Cross

overview

The Kainji and Plateau languages ​​have so far been poorly documented, the best representation is provided by Ludwig Gerhardt in Bendor-Samuel 1989. The subgroups of Central Nigerian are Kainji (about 50 languages ​​with 1 million speakers), several genetic units of the Jos Plateau -Languages ​​(together about 40 languages ​​with almost 2 million speakers), the tarocoid languages (4 languages ​​with 310,000 speakers) and the jukunoid languages (16 languages ​​with 350,000 speakers). There are only a few larger Platoid languages, Berom, Tarok and Kaje are worth mentioning, each with around 300,000 speakers. On average, each central Nigerian language has only about 30,000 speakers, so their areas of distribution are correspondingly small. Jukun was the language of the once powerful Jukun empire (end of the 1st millennium AD), its successor languages ​​are the jukunoid languages.

classification

The following classification of the Platoid languages ​​is based on Williamson-Blench (in Heine-Nurse 2000) and the web link given below.

Classification of the Platoid (Central Nigerian) languages

  • Platoid or Central Nigerian
    • Kainji
      • East: Jera (65 thousand), Sanga (20 thousand); Atsam ( 30k )
      • west
        • Duka: C'Lela (Lela) (100 thousand), Hun-Saare (75 thousand), Puku-Geeri-Keri-Wipsi (40 thousand)
        • Kamuku: Kamuku (30 thousand), Acipa (25 thousand)
        • Baushi: Baushi (20 thousand), Gurmana
        • Bassa: Bassa (100 thousand)
        • Kambari: Tsuvadi (150 thousand), Cischingini (80 thousand), Tsishingini (80 thousand), Tsikimba (50 thousand)
        • Kainji Lake: Laru, Lopa (5 thousand each)
        • Reshe: Resche (45 thousand)
    • North-west plateau
      • North plateau: Ikulu (50 thousand), Kadara (40 thousand)
      • West plateau
        • Northwest: Jaba (100k), Kamantan (10k)
        • Southwest: Kwanka (220 thousand), Mada (100 thousand); Kitchen (50 thousand); Eggon (150 thousand), Nungu (50 thousand)
    • Central plateau
      • North: Aten (40 thousand)
      • South: Kaje (Jju) (300 thousand), Katab (130 thousand), Irigwe (40 thousand), Izere (Afusare (50 thousand))
    • Southeast plateau : Fyam (12 thousand)
    • South Plateau : Berom (300,000), Lijili (50,000)
    • Tarokoid : Tarok (Yergam) (300 thousand), Tapshin, Pai, Yangkam
    • Jukunoid
      • Jukun: Jukun Takum (40 thousand), Jibu (30 thousand), Wase
      • Mbembe: Tigon-Mbembe (60 thousand)
      • Kororofa: Wapan (Wukari) (60 th.)
      • Wurbo: Bandawa-Minda-Kunini (10 thousand)
      • Kpan-Icen: Icen (50 thousand), Kpan
      • Yukuben-Kutep: Kutep (50 thousand), Yukuben (15 thousand)
    • Toro (Turkwam) (4k)
    • Arum-Tesu (4 thousand)
    • Ayu (4 thousand)
    • Nkawak

Linguistic characteristics

Most of the Kainji and Plateau languages ​​and some jukunoid languages ​​have nominal class systems (most completely the kutep), the other jukunoid and tarocoid languages ​​have only reduced class systems. Mostly, prefixes are used to identify the classes , but occasionally suffixes (e.g. in the Tigon membe). Verbal derivations are widespread. The normal sentence order is SVO, prepositions are usually used , not postpositions . The noun precedes its additions, so the noun phrases have the basic form noun + genitive , noun + adjective , noun + possessive and noun + numerals .

literature

  • Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse (eds.): African Languages. An Introduction. Cambridge University Press 2000.
    In it: Kay Williamson and Roger Blench: Niger-Congo.
  • John Bendor-Samuel (Ed.): The Niger-Congo Languages: A Classification and Description of Africa's Largest Language Family. University Press of America, Lanham, New York, London 1989.
    Therein: Ludwig Gerhardt: Kainji and Platoid.

Web links