| Chamba | |
|---|---|
| Samba Leekɔ | |
| Region | northernNigeria andCameroon |
| Ethnicity | Chamba people |
Native speakers | (62,000 in Nigeria cited 2000)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ndi |
| Glottolog | samb1305 |
Chamba Leko is one of two languages spoken by theChamba people, the other beingChamba Daka. It is a member of theLeko branch ofSavanna languages, and is spoken across the northernNigerian–Cameroonian border.
Chamba is also spelled 'Samba',Leko also 'Leeko', 'Lego' or 'Lekon'. The language is also known asSuntai.
Samba, also called Samba Leeko, is highly distinct fromChamba Daka, also calledDaga Mumi ('language of the Daka'), spoken in Nigeria by another subgroup of theChamba people. These two languages are respectively classified in groups 2 and 3 of the Adamawa branch byJoseph Greenberg (seeAdamawa languages).[2]
In Cameroon, the two main groups of dialects are:[2]
| Labial | Labiodental | Apical | Palatal | Velar | Labial–velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fricative | Voiceless | p | f | t | s | k | kp | ʔ | |
| Voiced | b | v | d | z | g | gb | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ̰w | ||||
| Oral | l | y | w | (h) | |||||
| Flap | (ⱱ) | (r) | |||||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ə | u |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | ɛ | a | ɔ |
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