Leko languages
Language group of Africa
title: "Leko languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["leko-languages", "leko–nimbari-languages"] description: "Language group of Africa" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leko_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Language group of Africa ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language family"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Leko |
| region | northern Cameroon, eastern Nigeria |
| familycolor | Niger-Congo |
| fam2 | Atlantic–Congo |
| fam3 | Savannas |
| fam4 | Leko–Nimbari |
| glotto | leko1246 |
| glottorefname | Sambaic |
| :: |
|name=Leko |region=northern Cameroon, eastern Nigeria |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo |fam3=Savannas |fam4=Leko–Nimbari |glotto=leko1246 |glottorefname=Sambaic
The Leko languages are a small group of languages spoken in northern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria. They were labeled "G2" in Joseph Greenberg's Adamawa language-family proposal. The Duru languages are frequently classified with the Leko languages, although their relationship remains to be demonstrated.
Languages
The languages are:
Names and locations (Nigeria)
Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations (in Nigeria only) from Blench (2019).
::data[format=table]
| Language | Dialects | Alternate spellings | Own name for language | Endonym(s) | Other names (location-based) | Other names for language | Exonym(s) | Speakers | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nyong | Nyɔŋ | Nyɔŋ Nyanga | sg. Nyɔŋvena, pl. Nyɔŋnepa (Nyongnepa) | Mumbake, Mubako | 10,000 (SIL) | Adamawa State, Mayo Belwa LGA, West of Mayo Belwa town, Bingkola and 5 other villages | |||
| Pere | Perema | sg. Pena, pl. Pereba | Wom (town name) | Spoken in 10 villages around Yadim: Fewer than 4,000 | Adamawa State, Fufore LGA | ||||
| Samba Leko | Chamba Leko, Samba Leeko | Sama | Samba | Leko, Suntai | 42,000 total (1972 SIL); 50,000 (1971 Welmers) | Taraba State, Ganye, Fufore, Wukari and Takum LGAs; mainly in Cameroon | |||
| :: |
References
References
- Güldemann, Tom. (2018). "The Languages and Linguistics of Africa". De Gruyter Mouton.
- Blench, Roger. (2019). "An Atlas of Nigerian Languages". Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
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