Jarawa language (Nigeria)

Not to be confused with Jarawa language (Andaman Islands) or Jarawara language.

Jarawa
Region	northern Nigeria, near Bauchi
Native speakers	250,000 (dialects with ISO codes) (2006–2011)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Jarawan Nigerian Jarawan Jarawa
Dialects	Zhár (Bankal) Zugur (Duguri) Gwak (Gingwak) Ndaŋshi Dòòrì Mbat (Bada) Mùùn Kantana Dàmùl
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: jjr – Zhár (Bankal) dbm – Zugur (Duguri) bau – Mbat (Bada) jgk – Gwak (Gingwak)
Glottolog	jara1263

Jarawa pottery

Jarawa (also known as Jar or Jhar, or in Hausa: Jaranci) is the most populous of the Jarawan languages of northern Nigeria. It is a dialect cluster consisting of many varieties.

Phonology

Consonants in the Mbat dialect

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	(ʔ)
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Affricate	voiceless				k͡x
	voiced			d͡ʒ	ɡ͡ɣ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ	(x)
	voiced	(β)	z		(ɣ)
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Rhotic			r
Approximant		w	l	j

• /β/ only appears as a marginal phoneme.
• [ʔ] only appears in non-word-initial syllables.
• Sounds /n, t, l, r/ can be heard as palatal or retroflex [ɲ, ʈ, ɭ, ɽ] in word-final position. /k/ can also be heard as uvular [q] in the same position, and may also alternate with [ʁ] or [ɢ].

• Sounds /k͡x, ɡ͡ɣ/ can be heard as fricatives [x, ɣ] or [χ, ʁ] in intervocalic position.

Vowels in the Mbat dialect

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Near-close	ɪ		ʊ
Mid	(ɛ)	ə	(ɔ)
Open		a

• Sounds /ɛ, ɔ/ only appear after glides.

Dialects

Jarawa dialects are:

• Zhár (Bankal)
• Zugur (Duguri)
• Gwak (Gingwak)
• Ndaŋshi
• Dòòrì
• Mbat (Bada)
• Mùùn
• Kantana
• Dàmùl

Kantana may be a distinct language.

Blench (2019) lists these varieties as dialects of Jar (Jarawa).

• Zhar
• Ligri
• Kantana
• Bobar (?)
• Gwak (Gingwak)
• Dõõri
• Mbat
• Mbat-Galamkya

Danglong (or Donglang; Hausa exonym: Damlawa), which is likely most closely related to Zhar, was discovered by Roger Blench in 2019, who collected a short word list at the time. It is spoken by a few elderly individuals in Danglong village, which is located just north of Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State.

Maccido, a stone-walled settlement west of Yankari Game Reserve that is now deserted, was built on the western edge of Yankari Game Reserve, likely by Zhar or related peoples around the 18th century to protect themselves from slave raids.