Adara language
Adara (also Eda[3] and Kadara), is a language spoken by Adara people of Kaduna state and Niger state of Nigeria. The name Adara is also used to refer to the ethnic group.
Some estimates place the population of the Adara people at around 500,000. About 80% of the Adara are Christians while some also adhere to Islam.[4]
Distribution
Adara is spoken mainly in Kachia and Kajuru Local Government Areas as well as parts of Chikun and Kagarko of Kaduna state. In Paikoro and Munya local governments areas of Niger State in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria.[5]
Dialects
Dialects of the Adara language include the Adara dialect, Eneje, Ada, Ekhwa, and Ajiya.[5]: 1
Blench (2019) lists Eda, Edra, and Enezhe as dialects.[2]
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Alveo-palatal | Palatal | Velar | Labial–velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | [c] j | k g | kp gb | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
| Tap | ɾ | |||||||
| Fricative | f v | s z | ʃ ʒ | [ɣ] | h | |||
| Affricate | [bv] | |||||||
| Approximant | y | w | ||||||
| Lateral | l |
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
References
- ^ Adara at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- ^ a b c Roger Blench (5 July 2009). "The Eda [= Kadara] language of Central Nigeria" (PDF).
- ^ Joshua project entry on the Adara
- ^ a b Hon, Luther; Ajaegbu, Grace; Magnusson, Carol; Nweke, Uche S.; Yoder, Zachariah (27 April 2012). "A Summary of a Sociolinguistic Survey of the Adara of Kaduna and Niger States, Nigeria" (PDF). SIL.
Further reading
External links
- Listen to a sample of Adara from Global Recordings Network
- Eda wordlist (with English and Hausa)