Psikyɛ dialect

Psikye (Psikya, Kapsiki) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria. Varieties include Psikyɛ and Zləngə. Blench (2006) classifies it as a dialect of Kamwe.^[2]

Psikye
Native to	Cameroon, Nigeria
Region	Far North Province, Adamawa State
Ethnicity	Kapsiki
Native speakers	(52,500 cited 1982–1992)[1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Chadic Biu–Mandara Bura–Higi Higi (A.3) Kamwe[2] Psikye
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kvj
Glottolog	psik1239

People	Kapsiki
Language	Margi

Names

In Cameroon, Psikya speakers use the name Margi to refer to their own language and its three varieties. The prefix ka-, in Kapsiki 'people', marks the plural ethnonym. It is called Higi in Nigeria.^[3]

Dialects

Psikyá covers the entire southwestern part of the arrondissement of Mokolo and Mogodé (department of Mayo-Tsanaga, Far North Region, Cameroon) along the Nigerian border, in the settlements of Roumzou, Mogode, and Roumsiki. The Sara people refer to them as Kamu.^[3]

Zléŋé and Wula are spoken in only two neighborhoods in the border village of Oula in Cameroon.^[3]

Writing system

A Psikyɛ spelling was developed by the Biblical Alliance of Cameroon and is used in the translation of the Bible into Psikyɛ, Ghena ta Shala, published in 1988.^[4] This uses several additional letters including in particular ⟨ɓ, ɗ, ə, ɛ, ŋ, ’⟩.