Bayot is a language of southern Senegal, southwest of Ziguinchor in a group of villages near Nyassia, and in northwestern Guinea-Bissau, along the Senegalese border, and in the Gambia.
| Bayot | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Senegal, Guinea-Bissau |
| Region | Ziguinchor, Cacheu |
Native speakers | 35,000 (2021–2022)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bda |
| Glottolog | bayo1262 |
| ELP | Bayot |
The Kugere and Kuxinge (Essin) dialects of Senegal and the Arame (Edamme) and Gubaare dialects of Guinea-Bissau are distinct enough to be sometimes considered different languages.
Bayot is the most divergent of the Jola languages, in the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family.
Bayot is grammatically Jola, apart from a non-Jola pronominal system. However, perhaps half its vocabulary is non-Jola and even non-Atlantic. It may therefore be a language isolate with substantial Jola borrowing (relexification). In any case, Bayot is clearly distinct from (other) Jola languages.
References
edit- ^ Bayot at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
External links
edit- ELAR archive of Documenting the Bayot language
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