| Nupe | |
|---|---|
| نࣸࢤٜ | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Niger State,Kwara State,Kogi State,Nasarawa State,Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria |
| Ethnicity | Nupe |
Native speakers | L1: 1.8 million (2020)[1] L2: 200,000 (1999) |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin,Ajami[2] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nup |
| Glottolog | nupe1254 |
Nupe (also known asAnufe,Nupenci,Nyinfe, andTapa[3]) is aVolta–Niger language of theNupoid branch primarily spoken by theNupe people of theNorth Central region of Nigeria. Its geographical distribution stretches and maintains preeminence inNiger State as well asKwara,Kogi,Nasarawa and theFederal Capital Territory.[4] Nupe is closely related to Kakanda in structure and vocabulary. There are at least two markedly different dialects of Nupe: Nupe central and Nupe Tako.
Nupe is the language spoken by theNupe people,[5] who reside mainly in Niger State in Nigeria, occupying a lowland of about18000 square kilometers in theNiger Basin, mostly north of the river between the Kontagora and Guara confluents from Kainji to below Baro, and alsoKwara State,Kogi State and theFederal Capital Territory.
Nupe is spoken mainly inBida, Niger State and surrounding areas. It is also spoken in villages on theBenue River nearIbi and east ofLafia. Nupe has assimilated earlier ethnolinguistic groups such as the Benu of Kutigi, who originally wereKanuri-speaking, and theGbagyi at Lemu.[3]
Nupe-Tako ("The Nupe Below", also called "Bassa Nge") is spoken by theBassa Nge, who also speak the Bassa Nge or Bassa Nupe dialect ofBasa-Benue and is lexically most closely related to central Nupe.[3]
The Nupe language belongs to theNupoid branch of the Benue-Congo group of languages. Other languages in the group are Igbira (Ebira), Gade, and Kakanda. Nupe is related most closely to Kakanda in structure and vocabulary. There are at least two markedly different dialects: Nupe central and Nupe Tako.[6]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | iĩ | uũ |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | aã | |
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | k͡p⟨kp⟩ | |||
| voiced | b | d | g | ɡ͡b⟨gb⟩ | ||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s⟨ts⟩ | t͡ʃ⟨c⟩ | |||||
| voiced | d͡z⟨dz⟩ | d͡ʒ⟨j⟩ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ⟨sh⟩ | h | |||
| voiced | v | z | ʒ⟨zh⟩ | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||
| Approximant | l | j⟨y⟩ | w | |||||
| Trill | r⟨r⟩ | |||||||
| High tone | (´)acute |
|---|---|
| Low tone | (`)grave |
| Mid tone | unmarked |
| Falling tone | (ˆ)circumflex or (ˇ)caron |
| Rising tone | (ˇ)caron or (ˆ)circumflex |
Common sayings come in the forms ofegankogi (parable),gangba (warning),egancin (idiom),ecingi (riddle/tales) andeganmagan (proverb).[7][clarification needed]
Eganmagan (proverb, pluraleganmaganzhi) are wise sayings spoken among the Nupes. They are didactic proverbs which educate, entertain, and teach morality. They form part of the oral culture on norms and ethics of Nupe societies, and are passed from one generation to another through songs, stories, fables, folk tales, myths, legends, incantations, communal discussions, and worship.[citation needed]
Similar to other African proverbs, Nupe proverbs associate or relate people's action to their immediate environment in order to explain or correct particular situations, norms, issues, or problems. They also enlighten, warn and advise, or teach language in order to change perception which is believed to become reality.[citation needed]
Authority control databases: National |
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