Somyev language

Somyev
Kila
Native to	Nigeria, Cameroon
Native speakers	15 (2000)^[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Mambiloid Mambila–Konja Mambila–Vute Kamkam languages Somyev
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`kgt`
Glottolog	`somy1238`^[2]

Somyev (Somyewe), also known as Kila ("blacksmith" in Fulfulde), is a nearly extinct Mambiloid language of two villages, one in Nigeria and one in Cameroon, that is spoken by a caste of blacksmiths that live among the Mambila. Although the language is still used for daily communication, the youngest generation of speakers were born in the 1950s. Transmission of the language ceased when the profession of blacksmithing lost its social status, partly due to imports of foreign tools.^[3]

References

↑ Somyev at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Somyev". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
↑ Connell, B. (1997). Moribund languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland. In M. Brezinger (ed.), Endangered Languages in Africa. Cologne, Germany: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. Pp 197–213.

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