Bacama language
| Bacama | |
|---|---|
| Ɓwaare | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Adamawa State, Kogi State |
Native speakers | 300,000 (2020)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bcy |
| Glottolog | baca1246 Bacamabaca1245 Bacama-Yimburu |
Bacama (Bachama) is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Central Chadic branch[2] that is spoken in Nigeria in Adamawa State principally in the Numan, Demsa and Lamurde Local Government Areas by the Bwatiye people.[3] The dialect spoken is Kwa Bwatiye. There is Basa Pwa and Basa Voti and Njiya. The basa pwa accent is slightly different from that of bass Pwa and voti but all are the same people and tribe. Bachama is used as a trade language.[1] It is often considered the same language as Bata.
Numerals
[edit source]Bachama has a decimal/quinary number system, with both 5 and 10 as bases:[4]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| hido | kpe | mwakin | fwot | tuf | tukoltaka | tukolukpe | fwofwot | dombi hido | bau |
8 is 4-4, 6 and 7 are based on adding to 5, and 9 means '(10) less 1'.
Example Texts in Bacama
[edit source]- Gibo ma ḅa ḍa motso da Pwa tsi ne ndso-nogi ka nji-nogi ka nogi. - Mark 3:35 (GWVS 1915) [5]
Other Resources available in Bacama
[edit source]Notes
[edit source]- 1 2 Bacama at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ↑ Adelberger, Jörg; Blench, Roger (2026). "The peopling of the Muri Mountains, Northern Nigeria: evidence from linguistics and ethnography". AAeO - Afrikanistik-Aegyptologie-Online. doi:10.18716/OJS/AAEO/2026_12031.
- ↑ Carnochan, J (1967). "The Coming of the Fulani: A Bachama Oral Tradition". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 30 (3). Cambridge University Press: 622–633. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00132082. JSTOR 612391. S2CID 144140973.
- ↑ Matsushita, 'Decimal vs. Duodecimal'
- ↑ "LinguaBank - Bachama". Archived from the original on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
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