Njerep (Njerup) is a Mambiloid language spoken in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. Njerep is essentially extinct, with only 4 people who speak it at home (in 2018).[2] Though word lists and grammatical information have been collected from these people, the information remains fragmented.
| Njerep | |
|---|---|
| Njerup | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
| Region | Adamawa Region, Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Njerep people |
| Extinct | 1998[1] 4 (2018)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | njr |
| Glottolog | njer1242 |
| ELP | Njerep |
 Njerep is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Endangerment
editNjerep is considered a critically endangered language under the UNESCO language endangerment index. Research conducted in 2000 indicates that only six speakers of this language remain, all of whom reside in the Somié village located along the Nigeria-Cameroon border (6°28' N, 11° 27' E).[1] Of these six speakers, only one remains conversant in the language. The others have been reported to be semi-speakers.[1] The youngest of the speakers was born in the 1940s, and it appears unlikely that Njerep will survive past the current generation.[3] Njerep is no longer a language of casual conversation. Instead, it is most often used for maintaining secrecy in conversation. According to a study in 2007, only four people spoke this language. All of them were elderly. [3] The Mambila language, also known as Mvop, has instead supplanted Njerep in casual use.[1][3]
History of Njerep people
editIt has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Njerep people. (Discuss) (August 2024) |
Though the Njerep people currently reside in Somié village, it is widely understood that the Njerep immigrated to that location from the mountains. Geographically, Somié village is located on the Tikar Plain of Cameroon. The approximately 2,500 inhabitants[4] of Somié are not only Njerep, but also a wide variety of immigrant groups including the Liap, Ndeba, and Mvup people.[5] Though oral accounts of how these groups immigrated to the Tikar plain are often contradictory, it appears that three or four waves of immigration led to the population of this area. It is likely that the Njerep people immigrated to the Tikar Plain from some region of the Adamawa Plateau,[3][5] possibly from the Djeni Mountain (also shown as Jiini or Aigue Mboundo on some maps) on the Mambilla Plateau. Njerep is a variant of Nzirrip, formerly located at Nyo Heights of the Mambilla Plateau. It is today represented by the remnant village of Yanzirri. It is obvious that their ultimate origin is traceable to the Mambilla Plateau from where they accessed the lowlying Nyalang Highlands through the Jiini Mountain range.
Classification
editNjerep appears to be related to the extinct Kasabe, the extinct Yeni, and the endangered Twendi.[1][3] Njerep appears to have been mutually intelligible with Kasabe, though not with Twendi.[3]
Njerep falls under the broad classification of one of the Mambiloid languages. Mambila, the largest language in the Mambiloid grouping, has approximately twenty different dialects, loosely divided into East Mambila and West Mambila dialect clusters.[4] Linguistic analysis suggests that Njerep may fall under the East Mambila cluster.[1] However, it remains contested whether or not Njerep and its related languages should comprise its own unique grouping.
Recording
editIntense efforts to record and characterize Njerep began in 2000. However, by the year 2000, Njerep had already been in terminal decline for some time. Thus, knowledge of Njerep vocabularies and grammars remains quite fragmentary.[1] Unfortunately, the lack of fluent speakers makes it unlikely that the incomplete record will ever be significantly amended. A comprehensive guide to Njerep vocabulary and grammar has been published and is freely available.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Connell, Bruce; Zeitlyn, David (1 June 2000). "Njerep a postcard from the edge". Studies in African Linguistics. 29 (1): 1–41. doi:10.32473/sal.v29i1.107369. S2CID 141021811.
- ^ Marques, Nuno (13 June 2018). "Quali sono le lingue meno parlate al mondo?" [What are the least spoken languages in the world?]. La rivista di Babbel (in Italian).
- ^ a b c d e f 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. Retrieved from http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/projets/clhass/PageWeb/ressources/Isolats/Bung%20%20Connell%201997.pdf
- ^ a b Connell, Bruce (2009). "Language Diversity and Language Choice: A View from a Cameroon Market". Anthropological Linguistics. 51 (2): 130–150. doi:10.1353/anl.0.0012. JSTOR 40730841. S2CID 144378889. Project MUSE 384700.
- ^ a b Zeitlyn, D. & Connell, B. (2003). Ethnogenesis and Fractal History on an African Frontier: Mambila—Njerep—Mandulu. The Journal of African History, 44(1), 117-138. doi:10.1017/S002185370200823X.
Further reading
edit- Caron, Bernard (2000). "Les langues au Nigéria" [languages in Nigeria]. Notre Librairie. Revue des littératures du Sud (in French). Littératures du Nigéria et du Ghana, 2 (141): 8–15.
- Blench, R. M. (n.d.). New developments in the classification of Bantu languages and their historical implications. Unpublished field materials. Retrieved from http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_6/colloques2/38088.pdf
- Blench, R. M. (1993). "An outline classification of the Mambiloid languages" (PDF). Journal of West African Languages. 23 (1): 105–118.
- Connell, Bruce (1998). "Moribund languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Endangered Languages in Africa. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 207–225. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.436.7499. ISBN 978-3-89645-305-1.
- Zeitlyn, David (1990). "Professor Garfinkel Visits the Soothsayers: Ethnomethodology and Mambila Divination". Man. 25 (4): 654–666. doi:10.2307/2803659. JSTOR 2803659.
- Zeitlyn, David (1992). "Un fragment de l'histoire des Mambila : un texte de Duabang". Journal des africanistes. 62 (1): 135–150. doi:10.3406/jafr.1992.2342.
- Zeitlyn, David (1993). "Spiders in and out of Court, or, 'The Long Legs of the Law': Styles of Spider Divination in Their Sociological Contexts". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 63 (2): 219–240. doi:10.2307/1160842. JSTOR 1160842. S2CID 145716322.
- Zeitlyn, David (1994). Sua in Somié: aspects of Mambila traditional religion (PDF) (Thesis). Academia Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88345-375-0. OCLC 463919453.
- Zeitlyn, David; Bagg, Janet (2000). "Mambila Demography from Archival Sources". History in Africa. 27: 423–436. doi:10.2307/3172123. JSTOR 3172123. PMID 18386428. S2CID 40468421.
- Zeitlyn, David; Connell, Bruce (March 2003). "Ethnogenesis and fractal history on an African frontier: Mambila–Njerep–Mandulu". The Journal of African History. 44 (1): 117–138. doi:10.1017/S002185370200823X. JSTOR 4100385. S2CID 162605050. ProQuest 229590414.