| Bata | |
|---|---|
| Gbwata | |
| Native to | Nigeria, Cameroon |
| Region | Adamawa State, North Region |
Native speakers | 300,000 (2020)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bta – inclusive codeIndividual code: kso – Kofa |
| Glottolog | bata1314 |
| ELP | Kofa |
 Ethnic territories of the Bata-speaking people (Batta) in Nigeria, in blue | |
| Bata | |
|---|---|
| Person | Gbwata |
| Language | Magbwata |
Bata (Gbwata) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State in the Numan, Song, Fufore and Jimeta gire Yola maiha Demsa lamorde LGAs, and in Cameroon in North Province along the border with Nigeria. Dialects are Demsa, Garoua, Jirai, Kobotachi, Malabu, Ndeewe, Ribaw, Wadi, and Zumu (Jimo).[1] It is often considered the same language as Bacama.[2]
Names
Blench (2019) lists Bwatye (endonym: Ɓwaare; exonym: Bachama) as a closely related language variety. They are located in Adamawa State (Numan and Guyuk LGAs) and Kaduna State (northeast of Kaduna town).[3] It is also called Kwā ɓwàryē.[4]
ALCAM (2012) lists Gbwata (Bwaara in Nigeria) as the singular personal form of Bata. The speakers refer to their language as "the language of the Gbwata", called Magbwatá, Magbwati or Magbwatiye in Cameroon.[5]
Dialects
In Cameroon, there are three varieties of Gbwata:[5]
- Demsa (Demsa commune in Bénoué department, which is on the Nigerian border, 30 km northeast of Garoua)
- Kokoumi (Garoua commune, Bénoué department, which is along the Benue River)
- Faro (Jelepo in Beka commune, Faro department)
Ndeewe is the dialect of the Gbwata who live far from the banks of the Faro and Benue rivers, where the "agricultural Bata" live. It is now spoken by only a few dozen people.[5]
Bacama is a Gbwata ethnic group settled in Nigeria.[5]
There are 2,500 speakers in Cameroon.[5]
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | Labio- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ɲ) | |||||
| Stop/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | k | k͡p | ʔ | ||
| voiced | b | d | (d͡ʒ) | ɡ | ɡ͡b | |||
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | (ⁿd͡ʒ) | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡ͡b | |||
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (ʃ) | h | |||
| voiced | v | z | ||||||
| prenasal | ⁿz | |||||||
| Rhotic | ɽ | |||||||
| Lateral | ɭ | |||||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||
- Sounds [ɲ, ʃ, d͡ʒ ⁿd͡ʒ] may occur optionally as independent sounds, or as allophones of /n, s, z, ⁿz/ in palatalized positions.[6]
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɯ | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o | |
| Open | a | |||
Notes
- ^ a b Bata at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Kofa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
- ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- ^ Bata materials from Raymond Boyd
- ^ a b c d e Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
- ^ Boyd, Raymond (2002). Bata phonology: a reappraisal. München: Lincom Europa.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
External links
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