Zeem language explained

Zeem
Region:Bauchi State
Speakers:400
Date:2003
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Afro-Asiatic
Fam2:Chadic
Fam3:West
Fam4:Barawa (B.3)
Fam5:Zaar
Lc1:zem
Ld1:Zeem
Lc2:cxh
Ld2:Chaʼari
Lc3:dsk
Ld3:Dokshi
Lc4:dyr
Ld4:Dyarim
Lc5:tvi
Ld5:Tulai
Glotto:zeem1242
Glottoname:Zeem
Glotto2:dyar1234
Glottoname2:Dyarim
Glotto3:dans1239
Glottoname3:Chaari
Glotto4:lush1256
Glottoname4:Dokshi
Glotto5:nucl1693
Glottoname5:Tulai
Dia1:Zeem (†)
Dia2:Caari
Dia3:Danshe (†)
Dia4:Lushi (?)
Dia5:Dyarim
Dia6:Tule (†)

Zeem, or Chaari, is an endangered Chadic dialect cluster of Nigeria, whose speakers are shifting to Hausa.[1] Dyarim is closely related.

The Zeem language is spoken in Toro LGA, Bauchi State. The Tulai and Danshe dialects are no longer spoken. It is also called Chaari, Dokshi, Dyarum, Kaiwari, Kaiyorawa, Lukshi, and Lushi.[2]

Dyarim had been influenced by Beromic languages during a time when Beromic was more widespread.[3]

Varieties

Zeem-Caari-Danshe-Dyarim cluster varieties listed by Blench (2019):[4]

Blench reports in 2019 that only 3 very elderly speakers of the Dokshi (or Lukshi[5]) language remain in the village of Lukshi, Bauchi State.

Notes

  1. Book: Newman, Paul. Nominal and verbal plurality in Chadic. Walter de Gruyter. 1990. 3. 978-90-6765-499-9. 2009-07-28.
  2. http://www.language-archives.org/language/zua OLAC resources in and about the Zeem language
  3. Blench, Roger. 2005. The Dyarim language of Central Nigeria and its affinities.
  4. Book: Blench, Roger. An Atlas of Nigerian Languages. Kay Williamson Educational Foundation. 2019. 4th. Cambridge.
  5. Blench, Roger. 2020. The South Bauchi languages of Central Nigeria: a fresh view based on recent fieldwork. CALL 50. Leiden University, August 31, 2020.