Mina language (Cameroon)
Encyclopedia
The Mina language is spoken in Northern Cameroon
. Another language of the same name is found in India
. They are distinguished in ISO 639-3 by referring to this language as Mina (Cameroon) and to the other as Mina (India)
The Mina language—also known in linguistic
literature by the names Hina and Besleri -- is classified as a Chadic language
(part of the wider Afro-Asiatic
group). Further, the language is classified as a member of the Biu–Mandara group, subgroup A, branch A7.
The language is spoken in Northern Cameroon by a population estimated at around 10,000. Frajzyngier & Johnston (2005) define three Mina dialects: Marbak, Kefedjevreng and Dzundzun, whereas Ethnologue defines the following three dialects Besleri, Jingjing (Dzumdzum), Gamdugun. While the relationship between the names Jingjing and Dzundzun is clear, the relationships between the four others is unclear. Mutual intelligibility
between dialects is difficult to ascertain, but Frajzyngier & Johnston (2005:3) demonstrate one-way intelligibility between Dzundzun and Mina (presumably the Marbak dialect).
The speakers of Mina are generally bilingual, with Fulfulde
(Fula) being the second language. Fulfulde is often joined by French
as a third language in educated speakers.
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
. Another language of the same name is found in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. They are distinguished in ISO 639-3 by referring to this language as Mina (Cameroon) and to the other as Mina (India)
The Mina language—also known in linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
literature by the names Hina and Besleri -- is classified as a Chadic language
Chadic languages
The Chadic languages constitute a language family of perhaps 200 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic and Cameroon, belonging to the Afroasiatic phylum...
(part of the wider Afro-Asiatic
Afro-Asiatic languages
The Afroasiatic languages , also known as Hamito-Semitic, constitute one of the world's largest language families, with about 375 living languages...
group). Further, the language is classified as a member of the Biu–Mandara group, subgroup A, branch A7.
The language is spoken in Northern Cameroon by a population estimated at around 10,000. Frajzyngier & Johnston (2005) define three Mina dialects: Marbak, Kefedjevreng and Dzundzun, whereas Ethnologue defines the following three dialects Besleri, Jingjing (Dzumdzum), Gamdugun. While the relationship between the names Jingjing and Dzundzun is clear, the relationships between the four others is unclear. Mutual intelligibility
Mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort...
between dialects is difficult to ascertain, but Frajzyngier & Johnston (2005:3) demonstrate one-way intelligibility between Dzundzun and Mina (presumably the Marbak dialect).
The speakers of Mina are generally bilingual, with Fulfulde
Fula language
The Fula or Fulani language is a language of West Africa. It is spoken as a first language by the and related groups from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan...
(Fula) being the second language. Fulfulde is often joined by French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as a third language in educated speakers.