Dikaka language

Waja language spoken in Eastern Nigeria


title: "Dikaka language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["waja-languages", "languages-of-nigeria"] description: "Waja language spoken in Eastern Nigeria" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikaka_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Waja language spoken in Eastern Nigeria ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]

FieldValue
nameDikaka
altnameCham
nativenameDijim-Bwilim
statesGombe State of Nigeria
ethnicityDijim people
speakers25,000
ancestorDikaka
ancestor2Dijim
date1998
refe18
familycolorNiger-Congo
fam2Atlantic–Congo
fam3Waja–Kam
fam4Waja
fam5Cham–Mona
iso3cfa
glottodiji1241
glottorefnameDijim-Bwilim
dia1Dijim (Cham, Cam)
dia2Bwilim (Mwana, Mona)
scriptLatin (Dijim alphabets)
::

::callout[type=note] the Nigerian language ::

|name=Dikaka |altname=Cham |nativename=Dijim-Bwilim |states = Gombe State of Nigeria |ethnicity=Dijim people |speakers=25,000 |ancestor=Dikaka |ancestor2=Dijim |date=1998 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo |fam3=Waja–Kam |fam4=Waja |fam5=Cham–Mona |iso3=cfa |glotto=diji1241 |glottorefname=Dijim-Bwilim |dia1=Dijim (Cham, Cam) |dia2=Bwilim (Mwana, Mona) |script=Latin (Dijim alphabets)

Dikaka or Cham, is one of the Savanna languages of Middle Belt, Nigeria. It is also known as Dijim–Bwilim, after its two dialects, Dijim and Bwilim. A tonal language, it has a whistled register. It is spoken in Gombe and southwestern parts of Adamawa State of Nigeria.

Dialects

The two dialects are Dijim and Bwilim.

  • Dijim [dijím], spoken in and around Kindiyo (currently Cham town)
  • Bwilim [bwilím], spoken in and around Mɔna (Mwona, Mwana)

Another related dialect is spoken by former speakers of the Jalaa language in and around Loojaa settlement.

Phonology

It consists of 8 vowels and 17 consonants. :The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ǝ, ɨ, ʊ :The consonants are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, w, y

References

References

  1. Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2014. [https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb07-adamawa/adamawa-languages/tula-waja-group/the-languages-of-the-tula-waja-group/ The languages of the Tula – Waja Group]. Adamawa Languages Project.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

waja-languageslanguages-of-nigeria