Duli–Gewe language

Duli-Gewe
Regionnorthern Cameroon
ExtinctLatter half of the 20th century
Niger–Congo?
Language codes
ISO 639-3duz – inclusive code
Individual code:
guv – Gey (retired)
Glottologduli1241  Duli-Gewe
geya1234  Gey (retired)

Duli (Gewe, Gueve, Gey) is an extinct Adamawa language of northern Cameroon.

Classification

Although Boyd (1989:184) had classified Duli as one of the Duru languages, Kleinewillinghöfer finds no evidence of it being a Duru language and treats it as a separate group within the Adamawa–Gur continuum.

Dialects

Blench (2004) links Duli to the extinct Gewe (Gey) language; Glottolog states that Gey is undemonstrated as a distinct language, and the ISO 639 code for Gewe was retired in 2016. Duli and Gewe (Gey) were closely related language varieties, and were probably dialects of the same language according to Kleinewillinghöfer (2015). They were spoken around the confluence of the Benue and Mayo-Kebbi Rivers, and are documented by a word list in Strümpell (1922/23).

Geographical distribution

Today, the Gey, who number about a 1,000 people in the east of Pitoa (Pitoa commune, Bénoué department, North Region), according to the ORSTOM population map of 1964. SIL (1982) estimates the ethnic population as 1,900. The Gey now recognize the Lamido of Tchéboa as their ruler, and they currently speak only Fulfulde.

Duli is spoken near Pitoa (Pitoa commune) and Garoua (Bénoué department, North Region). Eldridge Mohammadou also notes that only a few Duli words had been collected. As a result, the language is essentially undocumented.

Vocabulary

Numerals

Duli–Gewe numerals
Numeral Duli–Gewe
1 hira, hita
2 sik
3 ba
4 fwon, mofon
5 nakam, nak(k)ani
6 naani, naa tanu, na tadiu
7 naasik, nar gasik
8 naaba, nar gabia, nar gasba
9 naafoon, nar ga(s) fwon
10 bo
20 byeg

References

  1. ↑ Duli-Gewe at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Gey (retired) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Boyd, Raymond. 1989. Adamawa-Ubangi. - in: Bendor-Samuel, John. (ed.) The Niger-Congo languages. Lanham - New York - London: Summer Institute of Linguistics; 178-215.
  3. ↑ Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2015. Duli – Gewe (Gueve, Gey). Adamawa Languages Project.
  4. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Gey". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  5. ↑ Strümpell, F. 1922/23. 'Wörterverzeichnis der Heidensprachen des Mandaragebirges', Zeitschrift für Eingeborenensprachen 13: 47-75, 109-149.
  6. 1 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.
  7. ↑ Boyd, Raymond (January 1989). "Number systems in the Adamawa branch of Niger‐Congo" (PDF). African Languages and Cultures. 2 (2): 149–173. doi:10.1080/09544168908717702. ISSN 0954-416X.