Chadic languages
Branch of the Afroasiatic languages
The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 196 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, and northern Cameroon. By far the most widely spoken Chadic language is Hausa, a lingua franca of much of inland Eastern West Africa, particularly Niger and the northern half of Nigeria. Hausa is the only Chadic language with more than 1 million speakers.
01Composition
Paul Newman (1977) classified the languages into the four groups which have been accepted in all subsequent literature. Further subbranching, however, has not been as robust; Roger Blench (2006), for example, only accepts the A/B bifurcation of East Chadic. Subsequent work by Joseph Lovestrand argues strongly that Kujarge is a valid member of East Chadic. The placing of Luri as a primary split of West Chadic is erroneous. Bernard Caron (2004) shows that this language is South Bauchi and part of the Polci cluster. A suggestion for including the language isolate Kujargé as an early-diverged member, which subsequently became influenced by East Chadic, has been made by Blench (2008).
- Chadic
- West Chadic
- the Hausa, Ron, Bole, and Angas languages
- the Bade, Warji, and Zaar languages
- Biu-Mandara (Central Chadic)
- East Chadic
- Masa
- West Chadic
02Loanwords
Chadic languages contain many Nilo-Saharan loanwords from either the Songhay or Maban branches, pointing to early contact between Chadic and Nilo-Saharan speakers as Chadic was migrating west.
Although Adamawa languages are spoken adjacently to Chadic languages, interaction between Chadic and Adamawa is limited.
03Pronouns
Pronouns in Proto-Chadic, as compared to pronouns in Proto-Afroasiatic (Vossen & Dimmendaal 2020:351):
| Pronoun | Proto-Chadic | Proto-Afroasiatic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | *ní | *i ~ *yi |
| 2M | *ka | *ku, *ka |
| 2F | *ki(m) | *kim |
| 3M | *nì | *si, *isi |
| 3F | *ta | |
| 1PL | *mun (incl.), *na (excl.) | (*-na ~ *-nu ~ *-ni) ? |
| 2PL | *kun | *kuuna |
| 3PL | *sun | *su ~ *usu |
04Comparative vocabulary
Sample basic vocabulary in different Chadic branches listed in order from west to east, with reconstructions of other Afroasiatic branches also given for comparison:
| Language | eye | ear | nose | tooth | tongue | mouth | blood | bone | tree | water | eat | name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Chadic | *ydn | *km/*ɬm | *ntn | *s₃n; *ƙ-d | *ls₃- | *bk | *br | *ƙs₃ | *ymn | *hrɗ (hard); *twy (soft) | *s₃m | |
| Hausa | ido | kunne | hanci | haƙori | harshe | baki | jini | ƙashi | itaci; bishiya | ruwa | ci | suna |
| Proto-Ron | *kumu | *atin | *haŋgor | *liʃ | *fo | ɟɑ̄lɑ̄, tɾɔ̃̄ | *kaʃ | *sum | ||||
| Proto-South Bauchi | *(gwà)yìr(-ŋ) | *kə̂m(-si) | *bʸak(-ì) | *bìràm | *gu(ŋ)ul | *pit-ə̀ | *(yì)sûm(-s₃) | |||||
| Polci | yiir | kəəm | cin | haƙori | shen | bii | buran; bəran | gooloo | pət | maa | ci | suŋ |
| Proto-Central Chadic | *hadaj; *tsɨʸ | *ɬɨmɨɗʸ | *hʷɨtsɨnʸ | *ɬɨɗɨnʸ | *ɗɨrɨnɨhʸ; *ɣanaɗʸ; *naɬɨj | *maj | *ɗiɬ; *kɨrakaɬʸ | *hʷɨp | *ɗɨjɨm | *zɨm | *ɬɨmɨɗʸ | |
| Proto-Masa | *ir | *hum | *cin | *s- | *si | *vun | *vuzur | *sok | *gu | *mb- | *ti | *sem |
| Kujarge | kunɟu | kumayo ~ kime | kaata | kiya | aliŋati | apa | ɪbɪrí | (kaɟeɟa), kàyɛ́ya | kaʃíè | ʃia | (tona), tuye [imp. sg.]; tuwona [imp. pl.] | rúwà |
| Other Afroasiatic branches | ||||||||||||
| Proto-Cushitic | *ʔil- | *ʔisŋʷ- | *ʔiɬkʷ- | *caanrab- | *ʔaf-/*yaf- | *mikʷ’-; *moc’- | *-aħm-/*-uħm-; *ɬaam- | *sim-/*sum- | ||||
| Proto-Maji | *ʔaːb | *háːy | *aːç’u | *eːdu | *uːs | *inču | *haːy | *um | ||||
| Tarifiyt Berber | ŧit’t’ | aməžžun, aməz’z’uɣ | ŧinzā | ŧiɣməsŧ | iřəs | aqəmmum | iđammən | iɣəss | aman | šš | isəm | |
| Coptic | ia | ma'aje | ša | šol, najhe | las | ro | snof | kas | šēn | mou | wōm | ran |
| Proto-Semitic | *ʕayn- | *ʔuḏn- | *ʔanp- | *šinn- | *lišān- | *dam- | *ʕaṯ̣m- | *ʕiṣ̂- | *mā̆y- | *ʔ-k-l | (*šim-) | |
| Proto-Afroasiatic | *ʔǐl- | *-ʔânxʷ- | *sǐn-/*sǎn- 'tip, point' | *-lis’- 'to lick' | *âf- | *dîm-/*dâm- | *k’os- | *ɣǎ | *âm-; *akʷ’- | *-mǎaʕ-; *-iit-; *-kʷ’-̌ | *sǔm-/*sǐm- | |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Chadic languages”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Chadic languages in Africa map.svg by Noahedits, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Chadic Languages.jpg by OatmealFTLOTUDO, CC BY-SA 3.0
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