Nimbari language

The Nimbari language (also Niam-Niam), which is no longer spoken, was a member of the Leko–Nimbari group of Savanna languages. It was spoken in northern Cameroon. Ethnologue (22nd ed.) lists Badjire, Gorimbari, and Padjara-Djabi villages as Nimbari locations in Bénoué and Mayo-Louti divisions.

Nimbari
Niam-Niam
Regionnorthern Cameroon
Ethnicity130 (2002)[1][2]
Extinct(date missing)[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nmr
Glottolognimb1256[3]

Nimbari was labeled "G12" in Joseph Greenberg's Adamawa language-family proposal.

History and classification

Kastenholz and Kleinewillinghöfer (2012) note that Nimbari cannot be classified with certainty due to limited data.[4] It is a Fali name meaning 'people of Mbari'. People who identify as Nimbari currently speak Kangou (or Kaangu, Kaang), a variety of Southern Fali, and identify the ethnic name Nimbari with their village, Gorimbari.[5] Kastenholz and Kleinewillinghöfer (2012) report from a 2008 field trip that the name Mbaari refers to an inselberg (Fali language: ɡɔ́rì) central to the village of Gorimbari (Gorimbaara [ɡóːrímbáːrà]). Nimbari is derived from the Fali term níí mbáárì 'people/person (niru) of Mbaari'.

Strümpell (1922/23) reported Nimbari to be the autonym of Niam-Niam language speakers.[6] Originally, Strümpell (1910) called the language Niam-Niam, and had documented some limited data of questionable quality from elderly rememberers; the language was already no longer in everyday use at the time of data collection.[7] Kastenholz and Kleinewillinghöfer (2012) note that some items in Strümpell's word list share similarities with Duru languages (Dii, Duupa, Dugun), and also with Samba Leko and Kolbila to a lesser extent. However, many words have no clear parallels with other Adamawa languages.

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References
  1. Date given in Nimbari language at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005)
  2. Nimbari at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
  3. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Nimbari". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. Raimund Kastenholz, Ulrich Kleinewillinghöfer. 2012. Nimbari as a language name. Adamawa Languages Project.
  5. Westermann, Scott, and Annette Westermann. 2001. Sociolinguistic language survey of Nimbari ALCAM [393]. Rapid Appraisal May-June 2001, Basheo and Guider Subdivisions, Benoué and Mayo-Louti Divisions, North Province, Cameroon. Ngaoundéré: LTB Cameroon.
  6. Strümpell, F. 1922/23. 'Wörterverzeichnis der Heidensprachen des Mandaragebirges', Zeitschrift für Eingeborenensprachen 13: 47-75, 109-149.
  7. Strümpell, F. 1910. 'Vergleichendes Wörterverzeichnis der Heidensprachen Adamauas , von Hauptmann Strümpell – Garua. Mit Vorbemerkungen von Bernhard Struck – Groß-Lichterfelde', Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 3/4: 444-488.
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