Cipu language

Spoken in

Niger - Congo

• Benue - Congo Platoide languages Kainji West Kainji Kambari

Awc

Cicipu is a platoide language of the Benue - Congo language group, which is spoken by about 20,000 people in northwestern Nigeria.

The ethnic groups that speak the language as their mother tongue, ie Acipu.

Like most Benue - Congo languages ​​, the Cicipu a complex noun class system. It has moreover a highly complicated phonology and grammatical notes, including vowel harmony and nasalization.

Cicipu spokesman usually go over to the official language as their mother tongue to speak English, because the English politically a much higher status than native enjoys Nigerian languages. Many, especially older people, also speak the lingua franca Hausa and other neighboring languages ​​as a second language.

Classification

Cicipu is part of the Kambari cluster of West Kainji subgroup of the family of languages ​​of the Niger - Congo languages ​​.

The latest classification has been classified as part of the Cicipu Kamuku subgroup of West Kainji languages. However, more detailed studies have called this unlikely.

Alternative Names

The Cicipu is known in Nigeria under the language of West Acipa. However, the name West Acipa is no longer used outside of the Ethnologue, and a request was made ​​to change the entry. In the language Hausa language is called Acipanci.

Geographical Distribution

Cicipu is spoken in Nigeria of about 20,000 inhabitants, divided between the Local Government areas Sakaba, Kebbi, and Kontagora, Niger.

Dialects

The Acipu recognize seven different varieties of Cicipu. The dialect names people as follows ( with the corresponding Hausa names in parentheses):

• Tirisino ( Kara )
• Tidipo ( Kadonho )
• Tizoriyo ( Mazarko )
• Tidodimo ( Kadedan )
• Tikula ( Maburya )
• Ticuhun ( Kakihum )
• Tikumbasi ( Kumbaschi )