Mada language
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Mada | |
---|---|
Native to | Nigeria |
Region | Nasarawa State, Kaduna State |
Native speakers | (100,000, not counting Nunku cited 1993)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mda |
Glottolog | mada1282 |
Mada is a regionally important language spoken in Nasarawa and southern Kaduna States of Middle Belt, Nigeria, with many dialects. It is a highly tonal language. A translation of the New Testament into the language was finished in 1999.[2] The Nunku dialect has been identified to be a dialect of Mada rather than of Gbantu.
The Mada people are the second most populated tribe in Nasarawa state, mostly populating Akwanga and Kokona local governments. Possible archaeological history suggests that they may be descendants of the Nok civilization. They are closely related to the Ninzo people, as well as to the Gbantu people. Their languages are believed to be descended from the Proto-Plateau language.
References
- ^ Mada at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Blench, Roger. "A brief history of Mada literacy, and the creation of a Mada dictionary".
Categories:
- Pages containing links to subscription-only content
- Language articles citing Ethnologue 18
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Language articles with old Ethnologue 18 speaker data
- Languages of Nigeria
- Tonal languages
- Ninzic languages
- All stub articles
- Plateau language stubs