Longuda language

Lunguda (Nʋngʋra) is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Nigeria. They settle western part of Gongola mainly in and around the hills of the volcanic Lunguda Plateau, Adamawa state. Joseph Greenberg counted it as a distinct branch, G10, within the Adamawa family. When Blench (2008) broke up Adamawa, Lunguda was made a branch of the Bambukic languages.[3]

Lunguda
Nyà Núngúrá
Native toNigeria
RegionAdamawa State, Gombe State
EthnicityLunguda people
Native speakers
(40,000 cited 1973)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3lnu
Glottologlong1389
Nungura[2]
PeopleNùngùrábà
LanguageNyà Núngúrá

According to the Ethnologue, the current number of speakers is based on an SIL figure of 45,000 from 1973.[1] But recent studies has shown 50,000 in the 2006 census.

Variants of the name Longuda include Languda, Longura, Nunguda, Nungura, Nunguraba.

Dialects

In the Adamawa Languages Project website, Kleinewillinghöfer (2014) lists five dialects in the Longuda dialect cluster.[4]

  • Longuda/Lunguda of Guyuk and Wala Lunguda
  • Nʋngʋra(ma) of Cerii, Banjiram
  • Longura(ma) of Thaarʋ (Koola)
  • Nʋngʋra(ma) of Gwaanda (Nyuwar)
  • Nʋngʋra(ma) of Deele (Jessu)

Partly due to word taboo customs, there is considerable lexical diversity among Longuda dialects.[5]

Geography

The Lunguda settle in the northeastern part of Nigeria, mostly in Guyuk, Adamawa state in Guyuk LGA, Balanga LGA of Gombe state and some parts of Borno.[6] They have approximately 504,000 according to 2006 population census.

Names and locations

Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).[2]

LanguageBranchDialectsAlternate spellingsOwn name for languageEndonym(s)SpeakersLocation(s)
LongudaLongudaNya Guyuwa (Guyuk plains), Nya Ceriya (Banjiram=Cirimba/Chikila Cerembe 'rookie place'), Nya Tariya (Kola=Taraba), Nya Dele (Jessu=Delebe), Nya Gwanda (Nyuar=Gwandaba)Lunguda, Nunguda, Nungura, Nungurabanyà núngúrá Guyuk, Nungurama NyuarNúngúráyábá Guyuk, Nùngùrábà Jessu, Lungúrábá Kola13,700 (1952: Numan Division); 32,000 (1973 SIL)Adamawa State, Guyuk LGA; Gombe State, Balanga LGA

The largest ward is Chikila ward.

References

  1. Lunguda at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  3. "Longuda Group – Nʋngʋra Cluster | ADAMAWA LANGUAGE PROJECTS". www.blogs.uni-mainz.de. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  4. Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2014. Longuda group. Adamawa Languages Project.
  5. Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics series. Vol. 11. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 58–444. doi:10.1515/9783110421668-002. ISBN 978-3-11-042606-9. S2CID 133888593.
  6. Project, Joshua. "Longuda, Jessu in Nigeria". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  • Longuda (Adamawa Languages Project)
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