| Gwandara | |
|---|---|
| Kwandara | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
Native speakers | (27,000 cited 2000)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gwn |
| Glottolog | gwan1268 |
| Linguasphere | 18-HAA-a |
Gwandara is aWest Chadic language, and the closest relative ofHausa. Its several dialects are spoken innorthern Nigeria, predominantly in the north central region of Nigeria by the Gwandara people and some settlers who are about 30,000 people. They are found in large numbers inAbuja, Niger, Kaduna, Kogi and a resettlement town of New Karshi, Karu LGA, Nasarawa State.New Karshi has a Gwandara first class emirMuhammadu Bako III (PhD).
The Gwandara people are one of the indigenous tribes of FCT Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria.
The Nimbia dialect has aduodecimal numeral system (they count in base 12), whereas other dialects, such as Karshi below, have decimal systems:[2]
| Nimbia | Karshi | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | da | da |
| 2 | bi | bi |
| 3 | ugu | uku |
| 4 | furu | huru |
| 5 | biyar | biyari |
| 6 | shide | shida |
| 7 | bo'o | bakwe |
| 8 | tager | takushi |
| 9 | tanran | tara |
| ten | gwom | gom |
| eleven | kwada | gom sha da |
| twelve | tuni | gom sha bi |
It is thought that Nimbia, which is isolated from the rest of Gwandara, acquired its duodecimal system from neighboringEast Kainji languages. It is duodecimal even to powers of base twelve:The Nimbia 12 number set number system is known for making division easier.
| tuni mbe da | 13 | (dozen and one) |
| gume bi | 24 | (two dozen) |
| gume bi ni da | 25 | (two dozen and one) |
| gume kwada ni kwada | 143 | (eleven dozen and eleven) |
| wo | 144 | (gross) |
| wo bi | 288 | (two gross) |
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