Chamba Leko Explained

Chamba
Nativename:	Samba Leekɔ
Region:	northern Nigeria and Cameroon
Ethnicity:	Chamba people
Speakers:	62,000 in Nigeria
Date:	2000
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Niger-Congo
Fam2:	Atlantic–Congo
Fam3:	Leko–Nimbari
Fam4:	Leko
Iso3:	ndi
Glotto:	samb1305
Glottorefname:	Samba Leko

Chamba Leko is one of two languages spoken by the Chamba people, the other being Chamba Daka. It is a member of the Leko branch of Savanna languages, and is spoken across the northern Nigerian–Cameroonian border.

Chamba is also spelled 'Samba', Leko also 'Leeko', 'Lego' or 'Lekon'. The language is also known as Suntai.

Dialects

Samba, also called Samba Leeko, is highly distinct from Chamba Daka, also called Daga Mumi ('language of the Daka'), spoken in Nigeria by another subgroup of the Chamba people. These two languages are respectively classified in groups 2 and 3 of the Adamawa branch by Joseph Greenberg (see Adamawa languages).^[1]

In Cameroon, the two main groups of dialects are:^[1]

• Samba languages proper (consisting of the Samba Leeko, Deenu, Bangla, Wangai varieties, as well as Sampara, mainly spoken in Nigeria) located between the Alantika Mountains in one area, and Faro and Mayo-Déo as well (in the south of Béka commune, Bénoué department, North Region)
• Daganjonga, spoken in two enclaves of 25,000 speakers surrounded by Grassfields languages, near the Ndop Plain (more than 400 kilometers from the Alantika Mountains). It is spoken in the villages of Balikumbat, Baligashu, Baligashu (Balikumbat commune, Ngoketunjia department, North-West Region) and Baligam (Santa commune, Mezam department, North-West Region)

Phonology

Consonants

^[2]

			Labial	Labiodental	Apical	Palatal	Velar	Labial–velar	Glottal
Fricative			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Nasal			pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as / ̰w/
Oral					pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)
Flap				(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)

Vowels

Front!

Central		Back
Close	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Open	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

Notes and References

1. Book: Binam Bikoi. Charles. 2012. Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM). Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon. 1: Inventaire des langues. fr. Yaoundé. CERDOTOLA. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC). 9789956796069.
2. Étude du samba leko, parler d'Allani (Cameroun du Nord, famille Adamawa). 2003. Anne Gwenaëlle. Fabre. fr.