Afade language

Afade (Afaɗə) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in eastern Nigeria and northwestern Cameroon.^[1]

Afade
Afaɗə
Native to	Cameroon, Nigeria
Region	Far North Province, Cameroon; Borno State, Nigeria
Native speakers	5,000 in Cameroon (2004)[1] unknown number in Nigeria
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Chadic Biu–Mandara Kotoko (B.1) North Afade
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aal
Glottolog	afad1236

Classification

Afade is a member of the Biu-Mandara group of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. It is related to the Cameroonian languages Mpade, Maslam, Malgbe, Mser, and Lagwan.

Geographic distribution

Ethnologue

The speakers of Afade are the indigenous Kotoko people of Cameroon and Nigeria. According to Ethnologue, in Cameroon, it is spoken in the far North region: Logone-and-Chari division, south Makari subdivision, Afade area. The language is spoken by 6,700 Cameroon speakers. In Nigeria, Afade is spoken by 40,000 speakers in Borno State, Ngala LGA, 12 villages. There are no known dialects.

ALCAM (2012)

In Cameroon, Afade is spoken in the southern part of Makari commune, centered on the town of Afade and extending into Logone-Birni (Logone-et-Chari department, Far North region). It is spoken mainly in Nigeria.^[2]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-velar	Glottal
Nasal		m			n			*ŋ
Plosive	Voiceless	p			t			k	(kp)	(ʔ)
	Voiced	b			d		(ɟ)	ɡ	(ɡb)
	Implosive	ɓ			ɗ
	Ejective	*p’	(pfʼ)	(t̪θʼ)	*t’		(cʼ)	kʼ
Fricative	Voiceless	f			s (ɬ)	ʃ		*x		h
	Voiced	*v			*z	*ʒ		*ɣ
Resonant					l r		j		w

According to Jean-Pierre, Afade has a large inventory of consonants, including ejectives, implosives, and labial-velar stops. The vowels of Afade are /i u e ɤ o ɛ ɔ a ɑ/. /a/ is front, rather than central.^[3]

Consonants in parenthesis are only reported to occur by Jean-Pierre, while ones with an astrisk are only reported to occur by the IPA

Vowels

According to Jean-Pierre, the vowels of Afade are /i u e ɤ o ɛ ɔ a ɑ/. /a/ is front, rather than central.^[3]

According to the IPA, Afade has the following system of vowels^[4]

• Short vowels: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/
• Long vowels: /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /oː/, /uː/

Tones and stress

(Tones and stress are not present in Jean-Pierres discription of Afade)