Gwari language
Gwari is a Nupoid language spoken by over a million people in Nigeria. There are two principal varieties, Gbari (West Gwari) and Gbagyi (East Gwari), which have some difficulty in communication; sociolinguistically they are distinct languages.
Gwari | |
---|---|
Native to | Nigeria. |
Region | Abuja, Kaduna State, Niger State, and Nasarawa State. |
Ethnicity | Gbagyi people |
Native speakers | (700,000 Gbagyi cited 1991)[1] 350,000 Gbari (2002) |
Niger–Congo
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:gbr – Gbagyigby – Gbari |
Glottolog | gbag1256 [2] |
Varieties
Gbagye is also known as Gwari-Matai or Gwarin Ngenge, which are recently adopted cover terms.[3]
There are two separate Gbagye groups living in:[3]
Gbagye is the only Nupoid language that has the bilabial implosive /ɓ/.[3]
Gbari (also known as Gwari) is a cover term for all the Gbari-speaking peoples, and includes many varieties.[3]
Gbari-Yama is a cover term used for all southern Gbari dialects. There are two closely related dialects, which are:[3]
- Shigokpna
- Zubakpna
Gbedegi is an extinct language (possibly a Nupe dialect) spoken near Mokwa (Nadel 1941).[3]
References
- Gbagyi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Gbari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Gbagyi–Gbari". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Blench, Roger. 2013. The Nupoid languages of west-central Nigeria: overview and comparative word list.