| Warji | |
|---|---|
| Sirzakwai | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Bauchi State |
| Native speakers | 75,000 (2022) |
| Language family | Afro-Asiatic
|
| Writing system | Latin |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wji |
| Glottolog | warj1253 |
| ELP | Warji |
Warji (Warjawa) or Sirzakwai is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Speakers are shifting to Hausa.
Distribution
Warji is spoken in:
- Ganjuwa district, Darazo LGA, Bauchi State
- Warji district, Ningi LGA, Bauchi State
- Birnin Kudu LGA, Jigawa State
Morphology
Within the Bade–Warji languages, Warji has the most complex nominal plural marking system. Plurals are marked by the following suffixes.
- -tsǝ
- -sA (-sǝ, -sa)
- -Aŋsǝ (-ǝŋsǝ, -aŋsǝ)
- -(aŋ)ʃi (-shi, -aŋshi; stem-final -i is assimilated)
These may be all allomorphs of a single suffix, with optional inserted nasals.
Suppletive nominal plurals are:
| English | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| child | ŋaa | mǝru |
| girl | ŋaagǝɗ | mǝrǝgudi |
| woman | gǝɗ | guɗi |
| man | mumwan | mumwanci |
| human being | warji | zarsǝ |
Notes
- ^ Warji at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) [REDACTED]
- ^ Blench, Roger Wordlist of the Sirzakwai (Warji) language with Hausa and English equivalents.
- Blench, Roger. 2021. The erosion of number marking in West Chadic Roger Blench. WOCAL, Leiden.
| Languages of Nigeria | |
|---|---|
| Official languages | |
| National languages | |
| Recognised languages | |
| Indigenous languages | |
| Sign languages | |
| Immigrant languages | |
| Scripts | |
| West Chadic languages | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hausa– Gwandara (A.1) | |||||||
| Bole– Tangale (A.2) |
| ||||||
| Angas (A.3) | |||||||
| Ron (A.4) | |||||||
| Bade (B.1) | |||||||
| North Bauchi (Warji) (B.2) | |||||||
| South Bauchi (Barawa) (B.3) |
| ||||||
| Others | |||||||
| Italics indicate extinct languages. See also: Chadic languages | |||||||