| Doyayo | |
| Also Known As: | Dowayo |
| Region: | Cameroon |
| Speakers: | 15,000 |
| Date: | 1994 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Leko–Nimbari |
| Fam4: | Duru |
| Fam5: | Vere–Dowayo |
| Iso3: | dow |
| Glotto: | doya1240 |
| Glottorefname: | Doyayo |
| Dia1: | Sewe |
Doyayo (ethnonym: Dowayo) is a language of the Duru branch of Adamawa languages spoken in Cameroon.
Doyayo (Doo²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's mouth'; alternatively Doo²waa²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's child's mouth') is spoken by the Dowayo (or Doo²waa²³yɔ¹ 'man's child') ethnic group.
According to ALCAM (2012), Doayo, which has 18,000 speakers, is the main language of the northern part of Poli commune (in Faro department, Northern Region).[1]
Taara is spoken in the mountains west of Poli, and Marka in the plains further northwest in Tcheboa commune, Bénoué department.[1]
The term Namchi, which means "crushed ones" or "those who crush [millet for us]" in Fulfulde, is a cover term that refers not only to the Doayo, but also its neighbors Duupa and Dugun (the latter two are both Dii languages).[1]
Joseph Greenberg's "Sewe" is in fact a variety of the Doayo language documented by Griaule. The name comes from the informant's village, Sewe.[1]
Doyayo dialects are:[2]
(Note that there are two distinct Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ dialects.)
Blench (2004) considers the Sewe dialect to be a separate language, no more closely related to Dowayo than to Koma and Vere.