Jarawan languages

Jarawan is a group of languages spoken mostly in Bauchi State, Nigeria, with some also scattered in Plateau State, Taraba State, and Adamawa State in the same country. Two related languages formerly spoken in Cameroon are now extinct but are believed to have belonged to the group. This connection between Nigerian and Cameroonian Jarawan is attributed to Thomas.

Classification

The classification of Jarawan according to Blench is:

Mboa
Nagumi
Nigerian Jarawan
*Numan
**'Bile
**Mbula-Bwazza : Mbula, Bwazza, Tambo
*Mama
*Lame –Gwa
*Kulung
*Jaku–Gubi: Shiki, Dulbu, Labir
*Jarawa : Mbat, Galamkya, Duguri, Bankal, Kantana, Gwak

Whether Jarawan languages are best classified alongside other Bantu languages or among non-Bantu Bantoid languages is a matter of ongoing debate. A number of descriptions and classifications in the early 20th century suggest that they may be historically related to Bantu languages but not necessarily Bantu themselves. Other perspectives based on lexicostatistic modeling and other phylogenetic techniques for language comparison argue instead that Jarawan languages are properly classified alongside Zone A Bantu languages. For classifications based on these more recent studies, see for example Blench, Piron, and Grollemund.

Names and locations

Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations adapted from Blench.

	Language	Cluster	Dialects	Alternate spellings	Own name for language	Endonym	Other names	Other names for language	Exonym	Speakers	Location
Damlanci	unclassified		Damlawa	Damlanci					500-1000 ethnic population, but language now spoken by those over 50, although not moribund	Bauchi State, Alkaleri LGA, Maccido village	-
Gwa	unclassified								Fewer than 1,000	Bauchi State, Toro LGA	-
											-
Jar cluster			Dṣ’arawa, Jarawa				Jar, Jarawan Kogi, Jarawan Kasa, Jaracin Kogi/Kasa			Plateau, Bauchi and Adamawa States	-
Bobar	Jar									Bauchi State, precise Location unknown. May not exist as survey in 2007 failed to find such a language	-
Doori	Jar	Previous sources divided Duguri into a number of regional dialects, but this may not be valid since all Doori essentially speak mutually intelligible lects		Dõõri			Duguranci	Dugurawa		Bauchi State, Alkaleri, Tafawa Balewa LGAs; Plateau State, Kanam LGA	-
Galamkya	Jar	may be dialect of Mbat				Kanna	Jar, Jarawan Kogi, Garaka	Badawa, Mbadawa	10,000	North-western Kanam LGA, southwest of Mbat, including Gyangyang 2 and Gidgid	-
Gwak	Jar		Gingwak				Jaranci	Jarawan Bununu, Jaracin Kasa	19,000	Dass town and southward to Tafawa Balewa, west of the Gongola River, in Dass and Tafawa Balewa LGAs, Bauchi State	-
Kantana	Jar						Kantanawa			Plateau State, Kanam LGA	-
Ligri	Jar								800 speakers.	Taraba State, Karim Lamido LGA	-
Mbat	Jar		Mbada, Bat, Bada, Baɗa			Kanna	Jar, Jarawan Kogi, Garaka	Badawa, Mbadawa	10,000	North-central part of Kanam LGA, Plateau State, centered at Gagdi-Gum	-
Zhar	Jar	Dumbulawa may speak a Ɓankal dialect		Zhar		Ɓankal, Bankal, Bankala	Bankalanci, Baranci	Bankalawa	20,000	Dass town and northward to Bauchi town, west of the Gongola River, in Dass, Bauchi, and Toro LGAs, Bauchi State	-
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jaku-Gubi cluster											-
Labɨr			Lábɨ́r			Jaku, Jaaku	Jakanci		Spoken in about 10 villages, perhaps 5000 speakers	Bauchi State, south of the Bauchi-Gombe Road, from the Gongola River at Kanyallo, in Bauchi LGA, to Gar in Alkaleri LGA	-
Shɨkɨ						Gubi, Guba		Gubawa	300	Bauchi State, Bauchi LGA	-
Dulbu									80	Bauchi State, Bauchi LGA	-
											-
Lame cluster									2,000	Bauchi State, Toro LGA, Lame district	-
Ruhu	Lame		Rufu, Rùhû					Rufawa	There were said to be no speakers remaining in 1987		-
Mbaru	Lame		Mbárù, Bambaro, Bamburo, Bambara, Bombaro, Bomboro, Bamboro					Bomborawa, Bunborawa	3500-4500. Tulu town, Toro LGA, Bauchi State		-
Gura	Lame			Tu–Gura	sg. Ba–Gura, pl. Mo–Gura		Agari, Agbiri				-
											-
Mbula cluster									7,900 ; 25,000 ; 23,447	Adamawa State, Numan, Shelleng and Song LGAs	-
Mbula	Mbula										-
Tambo	Mbula										-
Bwazza	Mbula	No dialects		Ɓwà Ɓwàzà pl. àɓwàzà	Ɓwázà	Bare, Bere				Adamawa State, Demsa, Numan, Shelleng and Song LGAs. 26 villages.	-
Ɓile	Mbula	Kun–Ɓíilé is said to be mutually intelligible with Mbula	Bille, Bili, Bilanci	Kun–Ɓíilé	ɓa Ɓíilé				30,000 ; there are 36 villages reported to be entirely Ɓile-speaking, and another 16 where some Ɓile is spoken	Adamawa State, Numan LGA, 25 km south of Numan, east of the Wukari road.	-
											-
Mama	n/a						Kwarra		7,891 ; 6,155 ; 20,000	Nasarawa State, Akwanga LGA	-
											-
Kulung	n/a			Kúkùlúŋ	Bákùlúng	Bambur, Wurkum		Wurkunawa	15,000	Taraba State, Karim Lamido LGA, at Balasa, Bambur and Kirim; Wukari LGA, at Gada Mayo	-

Characteristics

The vast majority of what is known by linguists about Jarawan languages is gleaned from wordlists, many of which were compiled very early in the 20th century, and contain anywhere from a couple dozen to approximately 400 words, and occasionally a few phrases or simple sentences. Jarawan languages are sometimes argued to be Bantu languages given the presence of certain Bantu cognates, but the number and types of these cognates are not robust. The Jarawan lexicon is heavily influenced by Chadic languages, and particularly Hausa, due to contact.
Perhaps due to contact with Chadic languages, Jarawan languages have "frozen" prefixes that are likely vestiges of a lost noun class system; this is discussed in Blench and earlier in Maddieson & Williamson. This is not to say that the prefixes themselves are from Chadic, but rather likely from an earlier ancestor. The prefixes are no longer productive, and there is no related system of agreement or concord, as found in modern day Bantu languages. Jarawan languages for which information is available appear to make a simple opposition between singular and plural wherein a singular noun is equivalent to the noun stem, and the plural is formed by the same prefix, at least for countable nouns.
Jarawan languages exhibit predominantly isolating morphology. Other than plural prefixes on nouns, the only affixation yet noted is aspectual Habitual and Perfective suffixes, or verb "extensions" whose form depends on the shape of the verb stem. This is discussed in Gerhardt for "Jar" and Kantana, but also by Green for Mbat.
Although Jarawan had undergone Chadic influence during its earlier days, the reverse situation of a Chadic language being influenced by Jarawan is found in the curious case of Chadic Kulung being extensively influenced by the surrounding Jarawan Kulung language. Speakers of both languages identify as ethnic Kulung, but the languages belong to unrelated language families.