Tyap language

Tyap
Katab
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Kaduna State
Native speakers	(130,000 cited 1993) close to 500,000 with Jju
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Plateau Central ? Tyapic Tyap
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kcg
Glottolog	tyap1238

Tyap, or Katab, is a regionally important dialect cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria, named after its prestige dialect, also known as Morwa. Other dialects are Gworok (Kagoro), Atakar, Kacicere, Sholio, Kafancan. According to Blench (2008), Jju, with an even larger number of speakers, appears to be a Tyap variety, though speakers are ethnically distinct.

Geographical Distribution

Native Katab speakers are mostly found in Jema'a, Kachia and Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Southern Kaduna, Nigeria.

Dialect

Katab language also Kataf or Tyap has many dialects such as

• Sholio( moroa by hausa)
• Gworok
• Attakar
• Kagoro etc.

Alphabet

'Zhunzhwuo Alyem Atyap'

Aa Aa Aw Bb Bw Ch Chy Dd Ee Ff Fw Gg Gb Gh Ghw Ghy Gw Hh Hw Ii II Jj Jhy Kk Kh Kp Kw Ll Mm Nn Ng Nw Ny Oo Pp Rr As Sh Shy Sw Tt Ts Tw Uu Vv Vw Ww Yy Zz Zw

Some Words Associated with the Alphabet:

Bw bwak “wall”

Ch chat “want” or "love"

Chy Chyat “grass”

Fw fwai “a plant(rope)”

Gb gbang “far”

Gh ghan “hurry”

Ghw gwang “drawing”

Ghy aghyang “another”

Numbers

Small Numbers

1. Nyung/one
2. Fiyang/two
3. Tat/three
4. Naai/four
5. Fwon/five
6. Taa/six
7. Natat/seven
8. Ninai/eight
9. Kubunyung/nine
10. Swak/ten
11. Swak nfiyang/twenty
12. Swak ntat/thirty
13. Swak nnaai/forty
14. Swak Nfwon/fifty
15. Swak taa/sixty
16. Swak Natat/seventy
17. Swak Ninai/eighty
18. Swak kubunyung/ninety
19. Chyi Jhung/one hundred

Large Numbers

1. Chyj jhyung/one hundred
2. Chyi Swuyang/two hundred
3. Chyi Tsat/three hundred
4. Chyi Naai/four hundred
5. Chyi Tswon/five hundred
6. Chyi Taa/six hundred
7. Chyi Natat/seven hundred
8. Chyi Ninai/eight hundred
9. Chyi Kubunyung/nine hundred
10. Chyi-Kob Jhyung/one thousand
11. Chyi-Kob Swak/ten thousand
12. Chyi-Kob Chyi Jhyung/one hundred thousand
13. Miliyen nyung/one million
14. Biliyen nyung/one billion
15. Triliyen nyung/one trillion

Further reading

• Blench (2008) Prospecting proto-Plateau. Manuscript.
• Luke A. Dabo(2009). Introduction to Tyap for Beginners. Kaduna: Bi-shann publishing.