Zeem language
Appearance
Zeem | |
---|---|
Region | Bauchi State |
Native speakers | 400 (2003)[1] |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | zua |
Glottolog | zeem1242 Zeemdyar1234 Dyarim |
ELP | Zeem |
Zeem, or Chaari, is an endangered Chadic dialect cluster of Nigeria, whose speakers are shifting to Hausa.[2] Dyarim is closely related.
The Zeem language is spoken in Toro LGA, Bauchi State. The Tulai and Danshe dialects are no longer spoken.[1] It is also called Chaari, Dokshi, Dyarum, Kaiwari, Kaiyorawa, Lukshi, and Lushi.[3]
Dyarim had been influenced by Beromic languages during a time when Beromic was more widespread.[4]
Varieties
Zeem-Caari-Danshe-Dyarim cluster varieties listed by Blench (2019):[5]
- Zeem (extinct)
- Tule (extinct)
- Danshe
- Chaari
- Dyarim
- Dokshi (Lukshi, Lushi)
- Jimi
Blench reports in 2019 that only 3 very elderly speakers of the Dokshi language remain in the village of Lukshi, Bauchi State.
Notes
- ^ a b Zeem at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Newman, Paul (1990). Nominal and verbal plurality in Chadic. Walter de Gruyter. p. 3. ISBN 978-90-6765-499-9. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ OLAC resources in and about the Zeem language
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2005. The Dyarim language of Central Nigeria and its affinities.
- ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.