South Plateau languages

(Redirected from Jilic languages)

The South Plateau languages, also known as Jilic–Eggonic, are spoken in central Nigeria. Eggon has 150,000 speakers and Jili (Lijili, Mijili) perhaps 100,000.

South Plateau
Jilic–Eggonic
Geographic
distribution
Nigeria
Linguistic classificationNiger–Congo?
Subdivisions
  • Eggonic
  • Jilic
Language codes
Glottologjili1242

Classification

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Jilic (Koro) and Eggonic are clearly valid groups. Their connection was proposed in Blench (2006, 2008).

South Plateau 
 Eggonic 
 Jilic (Koro) 

Jili (Lijili)

Jijili (Tanjijili)

Two additional languages, Koro Nulu (a.k.a. Koro Ija) and Koro Zuba (collectively known as "Ija-Zuba") are ethnically Koro. However, they have very low lexical similarity with each other (~ 7%), and Koro Zuba at least appears to be a Nupoid language.

Names and locations

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Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).[1]


Language Branch Dialects Alternate spellings Own name for language Endonym(s) Other names (location-based) Other names for language Exonym(s) Speakers Location(s)
Ake Eggonic Akye, Aike 354 (Meek 1925); 3000 (Blench 1999) Nasarawa State, Lafia LGA
Eggon Eggonic 25 dialects are locally recognised although the status of these is unclear Egon onumu Egon Mo Egon Mada Eggon, Hill Mada 52,000 (Welmers 1971) Nasarawa State, Akwanga, Nassarawa–Eggon and Lafia LGAs
Koro Ija Jilic One village Federal Capital Territory, near Lambata
Koro Zuba Jilic One village Federal Capital Territory, near Zuba
Jili Jilic Megili, Migili (orthographic form) Lijili Jijili (singular), Mijili (plural) Koro of Lafia 50,000 (1985 UBS) Plateau State, Lafia and Awe LGAs
Jijili Jilic Tanjijili Ujijili pl. aJijili Koro Funtu of Kafin Koro, Koro of Shakoyi About 8 settlements and probably some 8000 speakers (1999) Niger State, Chanchaga and Suleija LGAs, north from the road from Minna to Suleja around Kafin Koro

References

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  1. ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
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