Ubang language

Ubang
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Cross River State
Native speakers	11,000 (2013)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bendi Ubang; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	uba
Glottolog	uban1243[2]

Ubang is a Bendi language of Nigeria. It is notable for having male and female word forms.[3][4] Differences in vocabulary are considered far greater than British and American English, for instance, since many words have neither similar sounds nor orthography; men and women are able to understand each other, however, since children speak the female language until approximately ten years of age.[4]

It is not clear exactly what proportion of words are different in the two speech forms; there is no pattern, such as whether the words are commonly used, related or linked to traditional roles for men or women. Anthropologist Chi Chi Undie, who has studied the community, commented: "It's almost like two different lexicons... There are a lot of words that men and women share in common, then there are others which are totally different depending on your sex. They don't sound alike, they don't have the same letters, they are completely different words."[4]

Examples of words in male and female Ubang

English	Male Ubang	Female Ubang
dog	abu	akwakwe
tree	kitchi	okweng
water	bamuie	amu
cup	nko	ogbala
clothing	nki	ariga
bush	bibiang	déyirè
goat	ibue	obi

gollark: How will it help people not in *this* server, exactly?

gollark: ...

gollark: Eh, not really. You just said something like "it is to stop firms pinging their members when they post a meme".

gollark: MemeBot, you mean?

gollark: I don't like arbitrary rules which seem as if they are clamping down on things for no reason, especially ones which will apparently be enforced through magic, and claiming something is for the benefit of all users doesn't make it the case.

References

Ubang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Ubang". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
"Bendi languages". www.rogerblench.info. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
Yemisi, Adegoke (23 August 2018). "Ubang: The Nigerian village where men and women speak different languages". BBC. Retrieved 7 June 2019.

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[e18-1] Ubang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)

[Glottolog-2] Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Ubang". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

[3] "Bendi languages". www.rogerblench.info. Retrieved 2017-07-31.

[Ubang_BBC-4] Yemisi, Adegoke (23 August 2018). "Ubang: The Nigerian village where men and women speak different languages". BBC. Retrieved 7 June 2019.