Dowayo language

Doyayo
Dowayo
RegionCameroon
Native speakers
(15,000 cited 1994)[1]
Dialects
  • Sewe
Language codes
ISO 639-3dow
Glottologdoya1240
PersonDoo²waa²³yɔ¹
LanguageDoo²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹

Doyayo (ethnonym: Dowayo) is a language of the Duru branch of Adamawa languages spoken in Cameroon.

Doyayo (Doo²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's mouth'; alternatively Doo²waa²³ya̰a̰¹yɔ¹ 'man's child's mouth') is spoken by the Dowayo (or Doo²waa²³yɔ¹ 'man's child') ethnic group.

Names

According to ALCAM (2012), Doayo, which has 18,000 speakers, is the main language of the northern part of Poli commune (in Faro department, Northern Region).[2]

Taara is spoken in the mountains west of Poli, and Marka in the plains further northwest in Tcheboa commune, Bénoué department.[2]

The term Namchi, which means "crushed ones" or "those who crush [millet for us]" in Fulfulde, is a cover term that refers not only to the Doayo, but also its neighbors Duupa and Dugun (the latter two are both Dii languages).[2]

Joseph Greenberg's "Sewe" is in fact a variety of the Doayo language documented by Griaule. The name comes from the informant's village, Sewe.[2]

Dialects

Doyayo dialects are:[3]

  • Markɛ (spoken in the northwestern plains)
  • Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ of Poli
  • Southern Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ (spoken in the mountains to the south)
  • Sewe (Séwé)

(Note that there are two distinct Tɛ̰ɛ̰rɛ dialects.)

Blench (2004) considers the Sewe dialect to be a separate language, no more closely related to Dowayo than to Koma and Vere.

References

  1. ^ Doyayo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b c d Binam Bikoi, Charles, ed. (2012). Atlas linguistique du Cameroun (ALCAM) [Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon]. Atlas linguistique de l'Afrique centrale (ALAC) (in French). Vol. 1: Inventaire des langues. Yaoundé: CERDOTOLA. ISBN 9789956796069.
  3. ^ Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich (2015). Doyayo.