Adamawa | |
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(defunct) | |
Geographic distribution | Northern Cameroon, north-western Central African Republic, southern Chad, and eastern Nigeria |
Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
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Subdivisions | |
Language codes | |
Glottolog | adam1259 |
The Adamawa /ædəˈmɑːwə/ languages are a putative family of 80–90 languages scattered across the Adamawa Plateau in Central Africa, in northern Cameroon, north-western Central African Republic, southern Chad, and eastern Nigeria, spoken altogether by only one and a half million people (as of 1996). Joseph Greenberg classified them as one branch of the Adamawa–Ubangi family of Niger–Congo languages. They are among the least studied languages in Africa, and include many endangered languages; by far the largest is Mumuye, with 400,000 speakers. A couple of unclassified languages—notably Laal and Jalaa—are found along the fringes of the Adamawa area.
Geographically, the Adamawa languages lie near the location of the postulated Niger–Congo – Central Sudanic contact that may have given rise to the Atlantic–Congo family, and so may represent the central radiation of that family[citation needed].