A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Tyap | |
|---|---|
| Katab | |
| A̱lyem Tyap | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Kaduna and Plateau States |
| Ethnicity | Atyap |
Native speakers | 255,000 (2020)[1] 875,000 with Jju |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin (Tyap alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Tyap Literacy Committee |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kcg |
| Glottolog | tyap1238 |
| Glottopedia | Tyap[2] |
 Tyap is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
| Tyap, Tyab[3] | |
|---|---|
| Person | A̱tyotyap, A̱tyotyab |
| People | A̱tyap, A̱tyab |
| Language | Tyap, Tyab |
| Country | A̱tyap or A̱byin A̱tyap |
| Tyap: Fantswam | |
|---|---|
| Person | A̱tyufantswam |
| People | Fantswam |
| Language | Fantswam |
| Country | Fantswam or A̱byin Fantswam |
| Tyap: Gworok, Gworog | |
|---|---|
| Person | A̱tyigworok, A̱tyigworog |
| People | Əgworog, Əgwolog, A̱gworok, Oegworok |
| Language | Gworog, Gwolog |
| Country | Gworog or Əbyin Əgworog |
| Tyap: Sholyio | |
|---|---|
| Person | A̱tyosholyio |
| People | A̱sholyio |
| Language | Sholyio |
| Country | Sholyio or A̱byin A̱sholyio |
| Tyap: Tyeca̱rak | |
|---|---|
| Person | A̱tyotyeca̱rak |
| People | A̱tyeca̱rak |
| Language | Tyeca̱rak |
| Country | Tyeca̱rak or A̱byin A̱tyeca̱rak |
| Tyap: Takad, Takat | |
|---|---|
| Person | A̱tyotakad |
| People | A̱takad, Takad |
| Language | Takad, Takat |
| Country | Takad or A̱byin A̱takad |
| Tyap: Tyuku, Tuku | |
|---|---|
| Person | A̱tyotyuku |
| People | A̱tyuku, A̱tuku, A̱tukum |
| Language | Tyuku, Tuku |
| Country | Tyuku or A̱byin A̱tyuku |
Tyap is a regionally important dialect cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria's Middle Belt, named after its prestige dialect. It is also known by its Hausa exonym as Katab or Kataf.[4][5] It is also known by the names of its dialectical varieties including Sholyio, Fantswam, Gworok, Takad, "Mabatado" (Tyap 'proper'), Tyeca̱rak and Tyuku (Tuku). In spite of being listed separately from the Tyap cluster, Jju's separation, according to Blench R.M. (2018), seems to be increasingly ethnic rather than a linguistic reality.[6]
Distribution
Native Tyap speakers are primarily found in the local government areas of Jema'a, Kaura and Zangon Kataf, although pockets of speakers are also found in Kachia and Kauru in southern Kaduna state, and Riyom (especially Takad speakers[7]) in Plateau State of Nigeria. There are also large speaking communities in Kaduna South and Chikun Local Government Areas of the state.[8] Skoggard (2014) presented the distribution of the Atyap (Katab) people in Nigeria to include: Niger, Nasarawa, Kaduna states and the FCT.[9]
Classification and dialects
Meek (1931:2) suggested that the Katab (Atyap), Morwa (Asholyio), Ataka (Atakad) and Kagoro (Agworok) speak a common tongue and may be regarded as one; and later on, McKinney (1983:290) commented that the Kaje (Bajju) should likewise be included with the above, due to the linguistic and cultural similarities shared by them.[10][11] Murdock (1959) classified Kagoro (Gworok) and other dialects comprising the current Tyap language group as "Plateau Nigerian",[12] in his "Semi-Bantu" branch of "Bantoid subfamily" of "Negritic Stock".[13][14] Tyap and Jju were placed by Greenberg (1963) under the "Plateau II" branch of the Benue-Congo language family. Later on, Gerhardt (1974) made a reconstruction of the branch, assigning it as "proto-Plateau". Again in 1989, Gerhardt placed Tyap and Jju under the South-Central subgroup, Central group, Plateau branch of Platoid, a division of the Benue-Congo languages.[5][15][16][17] Achi (2005) stated that the Atyap speak a language in the Kwa group of the Benue-Congo language family.[18] However, according to Bitiyong, Y. I., in Achi et al. (2019:44), the Kataf Group (an old classification) to which Tyap language belongs, is a member of the eastern Plateau. He went further to suggest that by utilizing a glotochronological time scale established for Yoruba and Edo languages and their neighbours, the separation of the Kataf Group into distinguishable dialects and dialect clusters would require thousands of years. Also mentioned was that,
Between Igala and Yoruba language, for example, at least 2,000 years were required to develop the distinction, while 6,000 years were needed for the differences observable in a comparison of Idoma and Yoruba language clusters
noting further that this indicates that
even within dialect clusters, a period of up to 2,000 years was needed to create clearly identifiable dialect separation and that it is thus a slow process of steady population growth and expansion and cultural differentiation over thousands of years.[19]
He thereafter summarized that the implication for Tyap is that it has taken thousands of years to separate, in the same general geographical location from its about six most closely related dialects and stated that as a sub-unit, they required probably more thousands of years earlier to separate from other members of the "Kataf group" like Gyong, Hyam, Duya and Ashe (Koro) who are little intelligible to them. The stability of language and other culture traits in this region of Nigeria has been recognized.[20][19]
Dialects
Tyap has a number of dialects, including:
| Dialect | Description |
|---|---|
| Fantswam (Hausa exonym Kafanchan, Kafancan) |
Spoken by inhabitants of the Fantswam chiefdom in Jema'a LGA, earlier regarded as Kagoro (of Jama'a) not until about the late 1950s were they recognized as a separate entity.[21] It is closely related to Jju, the Gworok and Tyap proper dialects. |
| Gworok (Hausa exonym Kagoro; Tyap proper Gwoot) |
Spoken by the A̱gworok (also spelt: Oegworok), inhabitants of chiefdom bearing their name, in Kaura LGA. It seems like a 'junction dialect' between Jju and Takad and seems to be influenced by neighbouring dialects of the nearest language cluster, most notably Nikyob-Nindem and others. |
| Jju (Hausa exonym Kaje, Kajji; Tyap proper Jhyo) |
Listed as a separate language (with the SIL code kaj, although its grammar and morphology are similar those of a Tyap dialect, with a bit of a variation in its syntax). It is spoken by inhabitants of the Ba̱jju chiefdom in Zangon Kataf, Jema'a and Kachia LGAs. It has the greater number of speakers of any Tyap dialect, and could have been deeply influenced by Izere and Rigwe (with whose speakers the Ba̱jju lived near Chawai with, in today's Kauru by oral narrative, before migrating to their present homeland several centuries ago). Jju was also probably influenced by the dialects of its present Hyam-speaking neighbours and former neighbours, to the southwest. These contacts seem to be the leading factor in its drift from Tyap in comparison to other dialects. |
| Sholyio (variant spellings Sholio, Sholyia̱; Hausa exonym Moro'a, Moroa, Marwa) |
Spoken by the A̱sholyio (also spelt: Osholio, Aesholio, Asholio, A̱sholyia̱) people of the chiefdom bearing their name in the Kaura LGA. It seems to have been influenced by the Beromic dialect of Iten, Rigwe and Gworok; its speakers share common borders to the east and south, respectively, with the people of the aforementioned. |
| Takad (variant spellings Takat; Hausa exonym Attakar, Attaka, Ataka) |
Spoken by the Takad (Tyap proper A̱takat) of the chiefdom bearing their name, in Kaura LGA, Kaduna State and Riyom LGA, Plateau State. It is closely related to the Tyuku and Gworok dialects, as well as Jju. Although its speakers see themselves as brothers of the Ba̱jju (with whom the migrated from Chawai by oral narrative), Takat seems more related to the core Tyap dialects than to Jju, although has some of its special elements. |
| Tyap proper (also Tyap-Central,[22] Tyap Mabatado, Tyab; Hausa exonym Katab, Kataf, Katab proper) |
Spoken by the A̱tyap people of the chiefdom bearing their name, in Zangon Kataf, also found in neighbouring chiefdoms in Kaura, Jema'a and Kauru LGAs. The dialect seems to be the mother dialect from which the others evolved, and was probably influenced by other languages, causing its drift from its parent proto-Plateau language root. British colonial anthropologist, Charles Kingsley Meek in 1931, classified most of the proto-Plateau ethno-linguistic groups as part of the "Kataf (Atyap) Culture Complex", speaking closely related dialects of a possible single language. |
| Tyecha̱rak (also spelt Tachirak, Techerak, Ticarak; Hausa exonym Kachechere, Kacecere, Kacicere; Tyap proper Tyecaat, Ta̱caat, Ta̱chaat) |
Spoken by the A̱tyeca̱rak; (Tyap proper A̱tyecaat) people in the A̱tyap, A̱sholyio (Moro'a) and Gworok (Kagoro) chiefdoms in Zangon Kataf and Kaura LGAs and as far south as the Jema'a LGA. |
| Tyuku (variant spelling: Tuku, Tukun,[23] Tyukum; Hausa exonym Atuku) |
Spoken by the A̱tyuku (also Atuku, Atukum, Atyukum) people in Jema'a Local Government Area in Takat chiefdom, around the Ni̱mbyio (also spelt Nimbio) forest reserve of southern Kaduna State. The dialect is often regarded as a dialect of Takad, and seems to possess the most language drift of any Tyap dialect, second to Jju. |
| Other dialects | Other dialects related to Tyap include Kulu (SIL code ikl, also an Adara dialect), Nghan (SIL code kcl, a Gyongic dialect) and Terri (SIL code cfd). |
Phonology
The Tyap alphabet (Zwunzwuo A̱lyem Tyap ji) had 39 letters, as drafted by the Tyap Literacy Committee (TLC) during the early 1990s:[24][25]
| Tyap alphabet: previous basic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | A̱ | B | CH | CHY | D | E | F | G | GB | GH | GHW | GHY | H | HY | HW | I | I̱ | J | JHY | K | KH | KP | L | M | N | NG | NY | O | P | R | S | SH | SHY | T | TS | U | V | W | Y | Z |
| a | a̱ | b | ch | chy | d | e | f | g | gb | gh | ghw | ghy | h | hy | hw | i | i̱ | j | jhy | k | kh | kp | l | m | n | ng | ny | o | p | r | s | sh | shy | t | ts | u | v | w | y | z |
| Phonetic value | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | ə | b | t͡ʃ | t͡ʃʲ | d | e | f | g | g͡b | ɣ | ɣʷ | ɣʲ | h | ç | ʍ | i | ɪ | d͡ʒ | ʒʲ | k | x | k͡p | l | m | n | ŋ | ɲ | o | p | r | s | ʃ | ʃʲ | t | t͡s | u | v | w | j | d͡z |
However, a current development as of 2018, has the Tyap Basic Alphabetical Chart reduced to 24, as follows:
| Tyap alphabet: new basic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z | ||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | t | u | v | w | y | z | ||||
| Phonetic value | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | t͡ʃ | d | e | f | g | h | i | d͡ʒ | k | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | t | u | v | w | j | d͡z | ||||
The letter "ch" would henceforth be represented by the symbol "c", without the "h". All others remain the same.