U̠t-Ma'in language

u̠t-Ma'in or Fakai is a Northwest Kainji dialect continuum spoken by 36,000 people in Nigeria. (The letter ⟨u̠⟩ is /ə/.) There are numerous rather divergent dialects:

• Kag (Puku, Fakanchi, Et-Kag)
• Jiir (Gelanchi, Et-Jiir)
• Kur (Kere, Kar, Keri-Ni, Kelli-Ni, Kelanchi, Kelinci)
• Zuksun (Zussun, Et-Zuksun)
• Ror (Et-Maror, Tudanchi, Er-Gwar)
• Fer (Fere, Et-Fer, Wipsi-Ni, Kukum)
• Us (Et-Us)
• Koor (Kulu)

Ut Main
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Kebbi State, Niger State, Sokoto State, Zamfara State
Native speakers	(36,000 cited 1992)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Kainji Northwest Kainji Ut Main
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gel
Glottolog	kagf1238

Names

Names for the u̠t-Ma'in peoples and languages from Blench (2012):^[2]

Hausa name	c-Lela name	People	Language
Fakkawa	Pək-nu	Kag-ne	ǝt-Kag
Fakkawa	Pək-nu	əs-Us	ǝt-Us
Gelawa	Geeri-ni	a-Jiir	ǝt-Jiir
Zuksun	Wipsi-ni	a-Zuksun	ǝt-Zuksun
Kukumawa	Wipsi-ni	əs-Fer	ǝt-Fer
Kelawa	Keri-ni	Kər-ni	ǝt-Kər
Tuduwa	ǝd-Gwan	a-Ror	ǝt-ma-Ror
Kuluwa	?	a-Koor	ǝt-ma-Koor

Geographic distribution

The Ut-Ma'in language is spoken mainly in Kebbi State (especially Fakai) and Sokoto State (Kebbe) but also in Niger State (Kontagora) and Zamfara State.

References

1. Ut Main at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Blench, Roger (2012). "The Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria" (PDF). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.

Further reading

• A sociolinguistic survey of the people of the Fakai district