East Kainji languages

East Kainji
Geographic distribution:	Nigeria
Linguistic classification:	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Kainji East Kainji
Glottolog:	east2404[1]

The two dozen East Kainji languages are spoken in a compact area of the Nigerian plateau, near Jos. They are poorly attested.

Classification

East Kainji was once thought to be a primary branch of the Kainji languages, but this is no longer the case.^[2] Impressionistically, Piti and Atsam appear to be distinct, but the rest form a continuous dialect chain.^[3] Nonetheless, Ethnologue 16 indicates several branches; these will be retained here for reference:

• Piti–Atsam
• East Kainji proper
  • Amo
  • Jera languages: Gamo-Ningi, Gyem, Iguta, Izora, Janji, Jere, Kudu-Camo, Lemoro, Lere, Sanga, Shau, Tunzuii (Tunzu), Ziriya (Sheni?)
  • Kauru languages: Kurama, Gbiri-Niragu (Gure-Kahugu), Bina, Dungu, Kaivi, Kinuku, Kono, Mala, Ruma, Shuwa-Zamani, Surubu, Tumi, Vono

Only Kurama, Gbiri-Niragu, Jere, Sanga, and Lemoro have more than a few thousand speakers.

At the time of the British conquest, several of these languages were in the process of shifting from duodecimal to decimal systems. Languages attested with such systems include Janji, Gure-Kahugu (Gbiri-Niragu), and Piti.^[4]

References

1. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Eastern Kainji". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
2. http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/West%20Kainji/Kainji%20page.htm
3. Blench 2004, The status of the East Kainji languages of Central Nigeria
4. Shuji Matsushita, "Decimal vs. Duodecimal: An interaction between two systems of numeration"