| Daka | |
|---|---|
| Region | northernNigeria |
| Ethnicity | Chamba people, others |
Native speakers | (120,000 cited 1992–2000)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:ccg – Chamba Dakadir – Dirimldh – Lamja–Dengsa–Tola |
| Glottolog | tara1325 |
Daka (Dakka, Dekka, rarely Deng or Tikk) is one of two languages spoken by theChamba people inNigeria, the other beingChamba Leko.
Daka is adialect cluster. The Chamba dialect is calledChamba Daka (orSamba, Tsamba, Tchamba, Sama, Jama Daka; also Nakanyare) and constitutes 90% of speakers. Chamba Daka is also calledSámá Mūm.[2]
Other dialects areDirim (Dirin, Dirrim),Lamja, Dengsa, andTola. Dirim and Lamja–Dengsa–Tola have separateISO coding, butEthnologue notes that they are 'close to Samba Daka and may be a dialect' or 'may not be sufficiently distinct from Samba Daka to be a separate language', and actually lists Dirim as a dialect under Daka. Blench (2011) lists Dirim as coordinate with other Daka varieties: Nnakenyare, Mapeo, Jangani, Lamja, Dirim, suggesting that if Lamja and Dirim are considered separate languages, as inEthnologue, then Samba Daka itself needs to be broken up into three additional languages.
Blench lists the following varieties as Samba Daka dialects.[3]
Greenberg placed Samba Daka within hisAdamawa proposal, as group G3, but Bennett (1983) demonstrated to general satisfaction that it is aBenue–Congo language, though its placement within Benue–Congo is disputed. Blench (2011) considers it to be Bantoid. Boyd (ms), however, considers Daka an isolate branch within Niger–Congo (Blench 2008). Blench (2011) listsTaram as a separate, though closely related, language.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | ə | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labial | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | k͡p | |
| voiced | b | d | g | ɡ͡b | ||
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿt | ᵑk | ᵑk͡p | ||
| Affricate | d͡z | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | |||
| voiced | v | (z) | ||||
| prenasal | ⁿs | |||||
| Tap/Trill | ⱱ | ɾ ~r | ||||
| Approximant | lateral | l | ||||
| plain | j | w | ||||
| nasalized | j̃ | w̃ | ||||