Lau language

Lau (Law) is a Jukunoid language of Lau LGA, Taraba State, Nigeria. Lau speakers claim that their language is mutually intelligible with the Jukunoid language varieties spoken in Kunini, Bandawa, and Jeshi. They also live alongside the Central Sudanic-speaking Laka (Hausa name: Lakawa), who live in Laka ward of Lau LGA.[1]

For the Oceanic language of the Solomon Islands, see Lau language (Malaita).
For the Oceanic language of Fiji, see Lauan language.
Lau
Law
Wĩ̄ Lâwmã̄
Native toNigeria
RegionLau LGA, Taraba State
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone
Lâw
PeopleWĩ̄ Lâw
LanguageWĩ̄ Lâwmã̄

Lau had been previously misclassified as a Mbum language along with Laka.[1][2]

Names

Names for the Lau language, people, and town:[1]

  • Town name: Làw (literally ‘mud’)
  • People: Wĩ̄ Lâw ‘people of Lau’
  • People (Hausa name): Lau haaɓe ‘the indigenous of Lau’ (from Fula haaɓe ‘servants, slaves, non-Fulani’)
  • Language: Wĩ̄ Lâwmã̄ ‘the language of the people of Lau’

Sample words

Some sample words in Lau from Idiatov (2017):[1]

EnglishLau
animalnɛ̃́wkũ̂
cownâw
chickenzǟw
manjĩ̂nə̀nwò
medicinegâj

References
  1. Idiatov, Dmitry, Mark Van de Velde, Tope Olagunju and Bitrus Andrew. 2017. Results of the first AdaGram survey in Adamawa and Taraba States, Nigeria. 47th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL) (Leiden, Netherlands).
  2. Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.