South Plateau languages
The South Plateau languages, also known as Jilic–Eggonic, are spoken in central Nigeria. Eggon has 150,000 speakers and Jili (Lijili, Mijili) perhaps 100,000.
| South Plateau | |
|---|---|
| Jilic–Eggonic | |
| Geographic distribution | Nigeria |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Glottolog | jili1242 |
Classification
Jilic (Koro) and Eggonic are clearly valid groups. Their connection was proposed in Blench (2006, 2008).
| South Plateau |
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Two additional languages, Koro Nulu (a.k.a. Koro Ija) and Koro Zuba (collectively known as "Ija-Zuba") are ethnically Koro. However, they have very low lexical similarity with each other (~ 7%), and Koro Zuba at least appears to be a Nupoid language.
Names and locations
Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).[1]
| Language | Branch | Dialects | Alternate spellings | Own name for language | Endonym(s) | Other names (location-based) | Other names for language | Exonym(s) | Speakers | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ake | Eggonic | Akye, Aike | 354 (Meek 1925); 3000 (Blench 1999) | Nasarawa State, Lafia LGA | ||||||
| Eggon | Eggonic | 25 dialects are locally recognised although the status of these is unclear | Egon | onumu Egon | Mo Egon | Mada Eggon, Hill Mada | 52,000 (Welmers 1971) | Nasarawa State, Akwanga, Nassarawa–Eggon and Lafia LGAs | ||
| Koro Ija | Jilic | One village | Federal Capital Territory, near Lambata | |||||||
| Koro Zuba | Jilic | One village | Federal Capital Territory, near Zuba | |||||||
| Jili | Jilic | Megili, Migili (orthographic form) | Lijili | Jijili (singular), Mijili (plural) | Koro of Lafia | 50,000 (1985 UBS) | Plateau State, Lafia and Awe LGAs | |||
| Jijili | Jilic | Tanjijili | Ujijili pl. aJijili | Koro Funtu of Kafin Koro, Koro of Shakoyi | About 8 settlements and probably some 8000 speakers (1999) | Niger State, Chanchaga and Suleija LGAs, north from the road from Minna to Suleja around Kafin Koro |
References
- Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- Blench (2008) Prospecting proto-Plateau. Manuscript.
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