Kamo (also kamu , ma , nubama , nyima ; English kamo, kamu, ma, nubama, nyima ; self-name: nyii ma ) is an Adamava-Ubangian language spoken in the eastern regions of Nigeria . It is part of the branch of the Vaja Jen subfamily Adamava [3] [4] [5] [6] . The number of speakers is about 20,000 (1995). Writing is based on the Latin alphabet [2] .
| Camo | |
|---|---|
| Self name | nyii ma [1] |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Regions | Gombe State (areas of , , ) |
| Total number of speakers | 20,000 people (1995) [2] |
| Classification | |
| Category | African languages |
Nigerian-Congolese macro-family
| |
| Writing | Latin alphabet |
| Language Codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | - |
| ISO 639-2 | - |
| ISO 639-3 | kcq |
| Ethnologue | |
| IETF | |
| Glottolog | |
About the title
The self-name of the Kamo language is nyii ma , the self-name of the ethnic community Kamo is ma (in the singular), nụbá ma (in the plural). Self-names are sometimes used in the literature as variants of the name kamom - ma ( ma ), nubama ( nubama ), nyima ( nyima ). Also known is the pronunciation of the name of the Kamo language as kamu ( kamu ). In the publication An Atlas of Nigerian Languages, R. Blench calls ma the main name of the language, and camo - local [1] [2] .
Classification
According to the classification provided in the Ethnologue World Languages Directory, the Kamo language together with the Avak language is part of the Avak subgroup of the Vaja branch of the Vaja Jen subfamily of the Adamava Adamava-Ubangian family [5] .
In the classification of R. Blench , the Camo language, together with the languages Tula , Avak, Dadiya , Bangvindzhi and Vaja, forms the subgroup viyyaa, which is included in the Vaja group of the Adamava Adamava-Ubangian family [3] [4] .
In the classification of W. Kleinewillinghöfer, published in the database of world languages , the branch of the Vaja Jen languages (with the Kamo language in its composition) is assigned to the gur family. The Kamo language together with the Avak language within this family form a linguistic unity - Avak-Kamo, which is consistently included in the following language associations: Tula languages, Tula-Vaja languages, Vaja-Jen languages, Central Gur languages and Gur languages. The latter, together with the Adamava-Ubangian languages and the languages Gbaya-Manza-Ngbaka, form a union of the northern Volta-Congolese languages [7] .
According to the earlier generally accepted classification of J. Greenberg , the Kamo (Kamu) language together with the languages Cham , Mona , Tula, Dadiya, Vaja and Avak form one of the 14 groups of the Adamava-Ubangian family [6] .
Linguogeography
Range and abundance
The Camo language distribution area is located in eastern Nigeria in the state of Gomba - in the areas of , and [1] [2] .
On all sides, except for the southeast, the area of the Kamo language borders on the area of the West Chadian language Tangale , from the southeast, the area of distribution of the Kamo language is adjacent to the area of the Avak language [8] .
According to the data presented in the Ethnologue directory, the number of speakers in the Kamo language in 1995 was 20,000 people [2] . According to modern estimates of the website, the number of speakers of this language is 37,000 people (2017) [9] .
Sociolinguistic information
According to the Ethnologue website, according to the degree of preservation , the Kamo language refers to the so-called stable languages that do not have a standard form , but are actively used in oral communication. This language is spoken by all generations of the Kamo ethnic community , including the younger. The Camo language is studied in five elementary and one secondary schools. In general, representatives of the Kamo ethnic community adhere to traditional beliefs (90%), among the Kamo people there are also Christians (5%) and Muslims (5%) [1] [2] [9] .
Writing
The Camo language is based on the Latin alphabet . In 2006, the Reading and Writing Book was published. In 2007, translations of fragments of the New Testament [1] [2] were made on camo.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Blench R. An Atlas of Nigerian Languages. 3rd Edition ( pdf) P. 59. Cambridge: Roger Blench Website. Publications (2012). Archived on November 28, 2016. (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lewis MP, Simons GF, Fennig CD: Kamo. A language of Nigeria . Ethnologue: Languages of the World (19th Edition) . Dallas: SIL International (2016). (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- ↑ 1 2 Blench R. An Atlas of Nigerian Languages. 3rd Edition ( pdf) P. 59, 94-95. Cambridge: Roger Blench Website. Publications (2012). Archived on November 28, 2016. (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- ↑ 1 2 Blench R. The Adamawa Languages ( pdf) P. 1. Cambridge: Roger Blench Website. Publications (2004). (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- ↑ 1 2 Lewis MP, Simons GF, Fennig CD: Niger-Congo. Atlantic-Congo. Volta-Congo. North Adamawa-Ubangi. Adamawa Ethnologue: Languages of the World (19th Edition) . Dallas: SIL International (2016). (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- ↑ 1 2 Vinogradov V.A. Adamua-Oriental languages // Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary / Editor-in-chief V.N.Yartseva . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1990 .-- 685 p. - ISBN 5-85270-031-2 . [Archived] September 6, 2019.
- ↑ Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M. , Bank S .: Language: Kamo . . Jena: (2016). (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- ↑ Lewis MP, Simons GF, Fennig CD: Nigeria, Map 5 . Ethnologue: Languages of the World (19th Edition) . Dallas: SIL International (2016). Archived January 17, 2017. (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- ↑ 1 2 Kamo in Nigeria . (2017). (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
Links
- Kamu (English) (html). MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships (2009). (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- OLAC resources in and about the Kamo language . Language-archives.org. (Retrieved March 6, 2017)
- Blench R. The Wiyaa group . Cambridge: Roger Blench Website. Publications. (Retrieved March 6, 2017)