Fam language

Bantoid language of Nigeria From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fam language

Fam ([fám][1]) is an endangered[2] Bantoid language, spoken by less than 500 in Bali LGA, Taraba State, Nigeria.

Quick Facts Native to, Region ...
Fam
Koŋa, Kɔŋa, Konga
Awol Fam
Native toNigeria
RegionTaraba State
Native speakers
500 (2016)
Language codes
ISO 639-3fam
Glottologfamm1241
ELPFam
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Fam shown within Nigeria
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Name

The speakers call themselves Fam, and their language either Fam or Awol Fam, although outsiders call the language Koŋa, Kɔŋa or Konga.[3][4]

Demographics

Speakers

In 2016, the language had less than 500 speakers.[4]

Fam is recorded as having either 1000, or less than 1000 speakers in 1984.[5][4] However, according to linguist Roger Blench, it did not have more than 500 speakers when it was recorded in 1984.[3]

Area spoken

The language was previously thought to be spoken in the single village of Sabon Gida.[3] However, according to later research, it is actually spoken in multiple villages.[1]

Classification

Fam is unclassified within the Bantoid family.[6]

Blench (1993) classifies Fam as a Mambiloid language, within the Northern Bantoid family. It is classed there as likely related particularly to Ndoro, on the basis of a few cognates.[7][3] Likewise, Dimmendaal and Voeltz (2007) classify it as a member of the Mambiloid group.[8] However, Blench (2014) revises his former opinion, stating there is not enough data for a classification and that the claim of a relation to Ndoro is very weak. He concludes Fam is best treated as an isolated Bantoid language.[3] Still, Blench (2020) lists it as a Mambiloid language, most closely related to Ndoro.[4]

Grammar

A minimal grammar of the language was written by Tope Olagunjo Demilade in 2017.[9]

Wordlist

Summarize
Perspective

This wordlist comes from Blench (2014), although note that the words lack tone markers.[3]

Many of the words have no clear etymology. There are cognates with Mambiloid languages, but this cannot be considered proof of a genetic connection as they are often with words that are isolated in Mambiloid languages. For example, "leopard" is asar in Fam and sɛre in Mvanip; this may be evidence of a shared substrate. Many words have a plural suffix -bə, resembling many Mambiloid languages but also many Dakoid languages.[3]

In the phonology, there is evidence of contact with Jukun, but no good evidence for classification as a Jukunoid language. Note the prefix a- found in some plurals, like the Jukunoid languages; many singular nouns also seem to have this prefix. The phone /θ/ is present, characteristic of Jukunoid languages (but unusual for Mambiloid languages).[3]

There are common words shared with Upper Cross River languages (e.g. "one" is wuni in Fam, wɔ̀ní in Gbo and wɔ̀nɔ́ in Mbembe), but again these are not considered proof of relation here.[3]

The words for 'man' and 'women' both have suppletive-seeming plurals, a common West African areal feature.[3]

More information English ...
English Fam
man yeyir (plural: ayɛrbo)
woman yife (plural: yɛswɔp)
head cɛl
face ŋgir
nose nwun
mouth ŋwũ
tooth ɲuŋ
tongue álám
neck acuŋ
arm, hand vwa
leg akwal
animal iɲam gənə
meat iɲam
horse avun
cow, zebu ane
fowl, chicken àʧóò
goat aʤwəl
sheep dim θey
dog aʒo
cat akule
elephant aθa
hippopotamus aθa iɲum
buffalo, "bushcow" iya
lion awuyir
leopard asar
hyena abay
tortoise ʧuwa kway
crocodile ʒɛp
fish aʒwey
bird awun
egg ʤinʤwo
yam vuŋ
millet gambal
sorghum θi
okra ʧum
old cocoyam tuùŋ
sorrel, roselle ʧwɔŋ
beans sa
groundnut(s) aθi wap
banana agwe
tree ʧi (plural: aʧi)
leaf ra
locust tree àlàm
sun aŋgwo
moon, month aʒɛr
sand aθa
stone tal (plural: atalbə)
water ɲim kwe
fire va
go (finally) harə
come kaŋbə
eat ləra
drink nuwunə
play (games) mun
sing yar
kill val bəle
beat (drum), flog za
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Numbers

This list of numbers comes from Blench (2014), although note that the words lack tone markers.[3]

More information English ...
English Fam
one wuni
two baale
three tawnə
four daare
five ʧwiine
six ʧowuna (5+1)
seven ʧipalə (5+2)
eight twitawnə (5+3)
nine ʧundaarə (5+4)
ten kwoy
twenty ɲiwunə
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Further reading

  • Tope Olagunjo Demilade, The Fam Language of Taraba State: Basic Description and Grammatical Analysis, 2017

References

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