The twelve Mambiloid languages are languages spoken by the Mambila and related peoples mostly in eastern Nigeria and in Cameroon . In Nigeria the largest group is Mambila (there is also a small Mambila population in Cameroon). In Cameroon the largest group is Vute.
9-478: The following classification follows Blench (2011). Languages with (?) are not listed in that source, but close to other languages according to Ethnologue . Ndoro–Fam may be a separate branch of Benue–Congo. Ethnologue also lists Njerep , which most likely lies somewhere in the Mambila–Kamkam branch. The extinct Yeni , Luo and Kasabe languages were apparently Mambiloid, the first two close to Njerep. Fam
18-546: Is obvious that their ultimate origin is traceable to the Mambilla Plateau from where they accessed the lowlying Nyalang Highlands through the Jiini Mountain range. Njerep appears to be related to the extinct Kasabe , the extinct Yeni , and the endangered Twendi . Njerep appears to have been mutually intelligible with Kasabe, though not with Twendi. Njerep falls under the broad classification of one of
27-628: Is sometimes classified with Ndoro, but appears to be more divergent. The unclassified language Bung shows its strongest resemblance to be with the Ndung dialect of Kwanja . It also has words in common with other Mambiloid languages such as Tep , Somyev and Vute , while a number of words' origins remain unclear (possibly Adamawan ). Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations (in Nigeria only) from Blench (2019). [REDACTED] This article incorporates text available under
36-683: Is widely understood that the Njerep immigrated to that location from the mountains. Geographically, Somié village is located on the Tikar Plain of Cameroon. The approximately 2,500 inhabitants of Somié are not only Njerep, but also a wide variety of immigrant groups including the Liap, Ndeba, and Mvup people. Though oral accounts of how these groups immigrated to the Tikar plain are often contradictory, it appears that three or four waves of immigration led to
45-525: The CC BY 3.0 license. Njerep language Njerep (Njerup) is a Mambiloid language spoken in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon . Njerep is essentially extinct , with only 4 people who speak it at home (in 2018). Though word lists and grammatical information have been collected from these people, the information remains fragmented. Njerep is considered a critically endangered language under
54-656: The Mambiloid languages . Mambila , the largest language in the Mambiloid grouping, has approximately twenty different dialects, loosely divided into East Mambila and West Mambila dialect clusters. Linguistic analysis suggests that Njerep may fall under the East Mambila cluster. However, it remains contested whether or not Njerep and its related languages should comprise its own unique grouping. Intense efforts to record and characterize Njerep began in 2000. However, by
63-629: The UNESCO language endangerment index . Research conducted in 2000 indicates that only six speakers of this language remain, all of whom reside in the Somié village located along the Nigeria-Cameroon border (6°28' N, 11° 27' E). Of these six speakers, only one remains conversant in the language. The others have been reported to be semi-speakers . The youngest of the speakers was born in the 1940s, and it appears unlikely that Njerep will survive past
72-401: The current generation. Njerep is no longer a language of casual conversation. Instead, it is most often used for maintaining secrecy in conversation. According to a study in 2007, only four people spoke this language. All of them were elderly. The Mambila language , also known as Mvop, has instead supplanted Njerep in casual use. Though the Njerep people currently reside in Somié village, it
81-529: The population of this area. It is likely that the Njerep people immigrated to the Tikar Plain from some region of the Adamawa Plateau , possibly from the Djeni Mountain (also shown as Jiini or Aigue Mboundo on some maps) on the Mambilla Plateau. Njerep is a variant of Nzirrip, formerly located at Nyo Heights of the Mambilla Plateau. It is today represented by the remnant village of Yanzirri. It
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