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Longuda language

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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

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]

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

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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

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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.[citation needed] They have approximately 504,000 according to 2006 population census.

Names and locations

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

Language Branch Dialects Alternate spellings Own name for language Endonym(s) Speakers Location(s)
Longuda Longuda Nya 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, Nunguraba nyà núngúrá Guyuk, Nungurama Nyuar Núngúráyábá Guyuk, Nùngùrábà Jessu, Lungúrábá Kola 13,700 (1952: Numan Division); 32,000 (1973 SIL) Adamawa State, Guyuk LGA; Gombe State, Balanga LGA

The largest ward is Chikila ward.

References

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  1. ^ a b Lunguda at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b 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.
[edit]
  • Longuda (Adamawa Languages Project)