Afade (Afaɗə) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in eastern Nigeria and northwestern Cameroon.[1]

Afade
Afaɗə
Native toCameroon, Nigeria
RegionFar North Province, Cameroon; Borno State, Nigeria
Native speakers
5,000 in Cameroon (2004)[1]
unknown number in Nigeria
Language codes
ISO 639-3aal
Glottologafad1236

Classification edit

Afade is a member of the Biu-Mandara group of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. It is related to the Cameroonian languages Mpade, Maslam, Malgbe, Mser, and Lagwan.

Geographic distribution edit

Ethnologue edit

The speakers of Afade are the indigenous Kotoko people of Cameroon and Nigeria. According to Ethnologue, in Cameroon, it is spoken in the far North region: Logone-and-Chari division, south Makari subdivision, Afade area. The language is spoken by 6,700 Cameroon speakers. In Nigeria, Afade is spoken by 40,000 speakers in Borno State, Ngala LGA, 12 villages. There are no known dialects.

ALCAM (2012) edit

In Cameroon, Afade is spoken in the southern part of Makari commune, centered on the town of Afade and extending into Logone-Birni (Logone-et-Chari department, Far North region). It is spoken mainly in Nigeria.[2]

Phonology edit

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Labial-velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Tenuis plosive p t k kp ʔ
Voiced plosive b d ɟ ɡ ɡb ʔ
Ejective pfʼ t̪θʼ
Implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative f s ɬ ʃ h
Resonant l r j w

Afade has a large inventory of consonants, including ejectives, implosives, and labial-velar stops. The vowels of Afade are /i u e ɤ o ɛ ɔ a ɑ/. /a/ is front, rather than central.[3]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Afade at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
  3. ^ Bouny, P. 1977. Inventaire phonetique d'un parler Kotoko: le Mandagué de Mara. In Caprile, Jean-Pierre (ed.), Etudes Phonologiques Tschadiennes, 59–77. Paris: Société d'Études linguistiques et anthropologiques de France.

References edit

  • P. Bouny. 1977. "Inventaire phonetique d'un parler Kotoko: le Mandagué de Mara," Etudes Phonologiques Tschadiennes. Ed. Jean-Pierre Caprile. Paris: SELAF. Pages 59–77.