Fali languages (Cameroon) explained

Fali
States:Cameroon
Region:North
Ethnicity:Fali
Speakers:35,000
Date:1982
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Niger-Congo
Fam2:Atlantic–Congo
Lc1:fal
Ld1:South Fali
Lc2:fll
Ld2:North Fali
Glotto:adam1254
Glottorefname:Adamawa Fali

Fali comprises two languages spoken in northern Cameroon. Included in Greenberg's Adamawa languages (as group G11), it was excluded from that family by Boyd (1989). Roger Blench suspects it may represent one of the earlier lineages to have branched off the Atlantic–Congo stock.

Varieties

According to Ethnologue 16, the two branches of Fali are "different," but it is not clear how distinct they are. Blench apparently treats them as half a dozen languages in two branches. South Fali has 20,000 speakers, with several dialects. North Fali, with 16,000 speakers, also has several dialects; North Fali speakers were "rapidly" shifting to Adamawa Fulfulde by 1982.

North Fali
  • Dourbeye (Fali-Dourbeye)
  • Bossum (Fali-Bossum)
  • Bvəri (Fali du Peske-Bori)
    South Fali
  • Kaang (Fali Kangou)
  • Bele (Fali-Bele)
  • Fali-Tinguélin

    The Nimbari language used to be spoken in the southern Fali area, but Nimbari people now speak Fali Kangou.[1]

    See also

    Further reading

    Notes and References

    1. Raimund Kastenholz, Ulrich Kleinewillinghöfer. 2012. Nimbari as a language name. Adamawa Languages Project.