Kanuri Language Page

1 CLASSIFICATION AND WHERE SPOKEN

"Kanuri is a Western Saharan language of the Saharan branch of the Nilo-Saharan family and is spoken in Nigeria (in parts of Sokoto, Gongola, Kaduna, Kanu, Bauchi states and most predominantly in Bornu State), in Niger (in the eastern prefectures of Zinder and Diffa, with some speakers also found in the Bilima arrondissement of the Agadez prefecture), and in Cameroon. Its sister language Kanembu is spoken in Chad around the northern, eastern and southern shores of the disappearing Lake Chad" (Hutchison,
personal communication, 1985).

2 NUMBER OF SPEAKERS

UBS (1982) states 3.5 million; Brann (personal communication, 1983) and World Almanac (1998) states there are about 4 million speakers, while Voegelin and Voegelin (1977) list "about a million speakers." Heine (1970), drawing from Westermann and Bryan (1952), lists approximately one million. Hutchison (personal communication, 1985) states: "Given the very significant population of speakers of Kanuri in Nigeria, I suggest that Brann's estimate (personal communication, 1983) of approximately four million speakers is the most accurate."

3 DIALECT SURVEY

Cyffer (personal communication, 1985) gives the following breakdown of Kanuri dialects: (A) Nigeria (Maiduguri, Sugurti, Mober, and Manga); (B) Niger (Kanembu dialects, Mober, and Manga); and (C) Chad (Kanembu dialects). Hutchison (personal communication, 1985) reports: "The major dialects of Kanuri spoken in Nigeria and Niger are Bilma, Dagera, Fashi, Manga, Mobar, and Yerwa. A wide range of dialects of Kanembu are spoken in Chad, and certain of the westernmost dialects, a very few of which are spoken on the former shores of Lake Chad in eastern Niger (Kuburi, Suwurti, and Tumari) are mutually intelligible with the Mobar dialect of Kanuri. The Kogono dialect of Kanembu spoken in the Kanem region north of lake is also mutually intelligible with the Mobar dialect and is the dialect that has traditionally been used to broadcast Kanembu in Chad. In Nigeria, the dialect emerging as most important is Yerwa of Maiduguri, owing to the city's historical and present day political importance. The Yerwa dialect closely resembles that spoken by the Mobor (or Mowar) dialect. Its population straddles the Nigeria-Niger border area. In Niger, more than half of the Kanuri-speaking population is for the most part Manga and partially Dagera speaking. The Manga and Dagera dialects are fully mutually intelligible, though significantly different from the Mobar and Yerwa dialects."

4 USAGE

Hutchison (personal communication, 1985) reports "Kanuri is one of the major national languages in Nigeria and of Niger. It is one of the twelve languages selected for implementation in the Universal Primary Education Program and in Niger it is one of five nationals being implemented in the primary program of educational reform."

5 ORTHOGRAPHIC STATUS

"A standardized Romanized orthography (known in Nigeria as the Standard Kanuri Orthography) was developed and officially approved by the Kanuri Language Board in Maiduguri, Nigeria, in 1975. The Borno Local Authority established a committee for the development of an official Ajami (Arabic script) orthography of Kanuri, but the work was never completed. (Kanuri was one of the languages whose alphabet was discussed at the 1966 UNESCO Bamako meeting.) The Republic of Niger is presently developing its own standardized orthography of Kanuri. Since there is far greater dialect diversity in Niger than in Nigeria, this task is far more difficult, as will be the task of attempting to harmonize this orthography with Nigeria's Standard Kanuri orthography" (Hutchison, personal communication, 1985).

6 SETS OF LEARNING MATERIALS

One set of language learning materials should be sufficient.