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Bata language

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Bata
Gbwata
Native toNigeria, Cameroon
RegionAdamawa State, North Region
Native speakers
300,000 (2020)[1]
Dialects
  • Zumu
  • Wadi
  • Malabu
  • Kobocī
  • Ribow
  • Njoboliyo
  • Garua
  • Jirai
  • Furo
  • Song Bata
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3bta – inclusive code
Individual code:
kso – Kofa
Glottologbata1314
ELPKofa
Ethnic territories of the Bata-speaking people (Batta) in Nigeria, in blue
Bata
PersonGbwata
LanguageMagbwata

Bata (Gbwata) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State in the Numan, Song, Fufore and Jimeta gire Yola maiha Demsa lamorde LGAs, and in Cameroon in North Province along the border with Nigeria. Dialects are Demsa, Garoua, Jirai, Kobotachi, Malabu, Ndeewe, Ribaw, Wadi, and Zumu (Jimo).[1] It is often considered the same language as Bacama.[2]

Names

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Blench (2019) lists Bwatye (endonym: Ɓwaare; exonym: Bachama) as a closely related language variety. They are located in Adamawa State (Numan and Guyuk LGAs) and Kaduna State (northeast of Kaduna town).[3] It is also called Kwā ɓwàryē.[4]

ALCAM (2012) lists Gbwata (Bwaara in Nigeria) as the singular personal form of Bata. The speakers refer to their language as "the language of the Gbwata", called Magbwatá, Magbwati or Magbwatiye in Cameroon.[5]

Dialects

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In Cameroon, there are three varieties of Gbwata:[5]

Ndeewe is the dialect of the Gbwata who live far from the banks of the Faro and Benue rivers, where the "agricultural Bata" live. It is now spoken by only a few dozen people.[5]

Bacama is a Gbwata ethnic group settled in Nigeria.[5]

There are 2,500 speakers in Cameroon.[5]

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Retroflex Post-alv./
Palatal
Velar Labio-
velar
Glottal
Nasal m n (ɲ)
Stop/
Affricate
voiceless p t k k͡p ʔ
voiced b d (d͡ʒ) ɡ ɡ͡b
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd (ⁿd͡ʒ) ᵑɡ ᵑɡ͡b
implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative voiceless f s (ʃ) h
voiced v z
prenasal ⁿz
Rhotic ɽ
Lateral ɭ
Approximant j w
  • Sounds [ɲ, ʃ, d͡ʒ ⁿd͡ʒ] may occur optionally as independent sounds, or as allophones of /n, s, z, ⁿz/ in palatalized positions.[6]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i ɯ u
Mid e ə o
Open a

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Bata at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Kofa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
  3. ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  4. ^ Bata materials from Raymond Boyd
  5. ^ a b c d e 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.
  6. ^ Boyd, Raymond (2002). Bata phonology: a reappraisal. München: Lincom Europa.
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