Karai-karai

Karai-karai
كاراي-كاراي (Ajami)
Native toNigeria
RegionBauchi State, Yobe State, Gombe state
EthnicityKarai-Karai
Native speakers
1.8 million (2010)[1]
Latin (Karai-karai alphabet)
Arabic script (formerly)
Official status
Official language in
 Nigeria
Language codes
ISO 639-3kai
Glottologkare1348
Ethnic territories (pink) of the Karai-karai-speaking people (Bakwaró) in Nigeria

Karai-karai (Francophonic spelling: Karekare, Kerrikerri, Ajami: كاراي-كاراي)[2] is a language spoken in West Africa, most prominently North eastern Nigeria. The number of speakers of Karai-karai is estimated between 1,500,000 to 1,800,000 million, primarily spoken by the ethnic Karai-Karai people. It is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken principally in Nigeria with communities in Bauchi State, Yobe State, Gombe State and other parts of Nigeria. Many Karai-karai words share a common origin with the Northwest Semitic languages of Hebrew and Arabic. The Karai-karai language is most closely related to the Ngamo and Bole languages (spoken in north eastern Nigeria) which are both considered derivatives of the Karai-karai language.[1]

  1. ^ a b Karai-karai at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "OLAC resources in and about the Karai-Karai language".