Bole (languages)

In the classification of the Afrasian languages ​​of the British linguist Roger Blench , the Bole languages ​​(northern Bole) are divided into three clusters , the first includes eight languages, the second includes four languages, the third is represented only by one language - karekare ^{[2] [6]} :

• hera , geruma , deno , storm , cubes , giivo (kirfi) , halambu , daza ;
• Bole , Ngamo , Maak (Maha) , Beel ;
• karekare .

The languages ​​of Kholok and Nyam by Roger Blench are included in the Tangale subgroup. In the classification published in the 2006 edition of The Afro-Asiatic Languages. Classification and Reference List , the language ^{[2] [6] was} also included in the number of languages ​​of the subgroup.

In the classification presented in the directory of world languages Ethnologue , the karekare language and the languages ​​proper are more distinguished (the Daza language in this classification is presented as unclassified as part of the Western Chadian language sub-branch A ) ^[1] :

• in fact , more: Beel , Bole , Storm , Deno , Galambu , Hera , Geruma , Kiwi (Kirfi) , Kholok , Cubes , Maak (Maha) , Ngamo , Nyam ;
• karekare: karekare .

The Czech linguist Vaclav Blazek combines the languages Bole , Ngamo , Maha , Hera , Kirfi , Galamba , Karekare , Geruma , Deno , Cuba and Bele into a subgroup of Bole ^[11] .

In Russell Schue’s classification, published in the world languages, the Bole subgroup includes the following languages ​​and dialects ^{[4] [12]} :

• karekare (birkai, jalalam, quarta matachi);
• nuclear bole:
  • halambu bele:
    • halamba ;
    • kirfi bele:
      • giivo (kirfi) ;
      • ngamo-bele: bolanchi-bele ( beele , nuclear bole ), ngamo ;
  • Hera-Geruma-Cubi-Deno:
    • hera-geruma: hera, geruma (duurum, gamsava, sum);
    • cubes deno: deno , cubes .
• unclassified : storm , kholok (including kunshenu), maaka (maha) , nyam .

Daza language in this classification is described as an unapproved Afrasian language, whose place in the Chadian family of languages ​​is not specified ^[4] .

Area and number

The language distribution area is located in areas of north-eastern and central Nigeria . It includes three separate ranges. One of them, southwestern, is located in the central part of the state of Bauchi (the areas of the languages ​​of Gerum, Hera, Deno, Cuba, Bure, Kirfi, Halamba, Beel and Daza). Another, northeastern, is located on the border of the states of Yobe , Bauchi and Gombe (areas of the languages ​​of Karekare, Ngamo, Bole and Mach). The third, southeastern, including two island ranges of Kholok and Nyam languages, is located in the northern part of the state of Taraba ^{[13] [14] [15]} .

The total number of Bole speakers is estimated at different years to be around 780,000 ^[1] . The most common in terms of the number of speakers are Bole languages ​​(250-300 thousand people) ^[16] , Hera (200 thousand people, 1995) ^[17] , Karekare (150 thousand people, 1993) ^[18] and Ngamo (60 thousand people, 1993) ^[19] . The number of other languages ​​does not exceed 10,000 - 15,000 speakers, a number of languages ​​totals several hundreds or even tens of people ^[1] .

Sociolinguistic Information

The most significant among the languages ​​of the Bole subgroup is the Bole language. In terms of prevalence, number of carriers and prestige in the northeastern Nigerian region, it is second only to the Hausa language, which is the lingua franca throughout northern Nigeria and the nearby sub-Sahara zone, and the Kanuri language , historically dominant in Northeastern Nigeria. The bole is spoken not only by representatives of the ethnic community of the sick - as the second language is spoken by representatives of other nations and ethnic groups in the states of Yobe and Gomba ^[16] . The spread of house in the north-eastern and central regions of Nigeria as a language of interethnic communication leads to the extinction of a number of small languages. Among the languages ​​of the Bole subgroup, Beele (400 people) ^{[20] [21]} , Nyam (100 people, 2006) ^[22] and Burea (20 people, 2011) ^[23] are almost extinct, the Cuba language is almost extinct ^[24] .

Bole languages ​​are poorly studied Chadian languages. Their study began relatively recently, in the second half of the 20th century. Descriptions of a number of Bole languages ​​are presented, in particular, in the 1978 work of Russell Schuch, Bole-Tangale languages ​​of the Bauchi area (Northern Nigeria) . At different times, studies were published on various aspects of phonology , morphology and dialectology of the Bole language; in 1988, spelling of the Karekare language was published. In recent years, dictionaries of the languages ​​Karekare (2004), Ngamo (2004) and Bole (2004) have been published, as well as a description of the phonology of the Ngamo language (2005) and a description of the grammar of the Nyam language (2012) ^[4] .

• Bole Group A (English) (html). MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships (2009). Archived January 18, 2017. (Retrieved January 18, 2017)