Gwandara language
| Gwandara | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nigeria |
Native speakers | 27,000 (2000)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gwn |
| Glottolog | gwan1268 |
| Linguasphere | 18-HAA-a |
Gwandara is a West Chadic language, and the closest relative of Hausa. Its several dialects are spoken in northern Nigeria by about 30,000 people.
The Nimbia dialect has a duodecimal numeral system, whereas other dialects, such as Karshi below, have decimal systems:[2]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ten | eleven | twelve | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nimbia | da | bi | ugu | furu | biyar | shide | bo'o | tager | tanran | gwom | kwada | tuni |
| Karshi | da | bi | uku | huru | biyari | shida | bakwe | takushi | tara | gom | gom sha da | gom sha bi |
It is thought that Nimbia, which is isolated from the rest of Gwandara, acquired its duodecimal system from neighboring East Kainji languages. It is duodecimal even to powers of base twelve:
| tuni mbe da | 13 | (dozen and one) |
| gume bi | 24 | (two dozen) |
| gume bi ni da | 25 | (two dozen and one) |
| gume kwada ni kwada | 143 | (eleven dozen and eleven) |
| wo | 144 | (gross) |
| wo bi | 288 | (two gross) |
References
- ^ Gwandara at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Matsushita, 'Decimal vs. Duodecimal'
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