Masa languages

---

title: "Masa languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chadic-languages", "languages-of-cameroon", "languages-of-chad"] topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masa_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

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

Field	Value
name	Masa
region	southwestern Chad and northern Cameroon
familycolor	Afro-Asiatic
fam2	Chadic
child1	North Masa
child2	South Masa
glotto	masa1323
glottorefname	Masa
::

|name=Masa |region=southwestern Chad and northern Cameroon |familycolor=Afro-Asiatic |fam2=Chadic |child1=North Masa |child2=South Masa |glotto=masa1323 |glottorefname=Masa

The Masa languages are a group of closely related Chadic languages of southwestern Chad and northern Cameroon.

Languages

The Masa languages listed in Blench (2006) are:

• Masa
  • North
    • Massa (Masana)
    • ? Zumaya (†)
    • Musey–Azumeina
      • Musey
      • Azumeina (Marba)
  • South
    • Mesmé
    • Peve–KaɗoLamé
      • Pévé
      • Ngeté-Herdé

The exonym Zime is used for the Herdé, Ngeté, Pévé, and Mesmé. Similarly, Kaɗo is a generic name for the Peve–Kaɗo languages, a couple of which are called Lamé as well.

Shryock (1997)

Shryock (1997: 32) subgroups the Masa languages as:

• Zumaya †
• North: Masa; Musey; Marba, Monogoy
• South: Zime; Peve; Heɗe-Ngiɗe

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

::data[format=table]

Language	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Herdé (Zime)	ɗàw	hʷóèɓ	hī́ndʒìʔ	fíɗíʔ	vàɬ	kāŋɡīʔ	sēɗā	tʃɔ̀hòʔ	tēfer̄ɗɛw	ɡùɓ
Marba (1)	tú	mbà	híndí	fíɗí	váɬ	kárɡéyá	kíɗìzíyà	ʔàklávándí	ɬéŋá	dóɡò
Marba (2)	tù	mbà	ɦìndí	fíɗí	vàɬ	kàraɡàyà	sìdìzìjá	klàvàndì	ɮèèŋà	dòk / dòɡò
Masana (Massa)	kèp, tù, tùm	màʔ	ɦìdí	fìɗì	vàɬ	kàrɡìjà	sìdìjà	ɡlàvàndí	ɮèŋè	dòòk
Mesme (Zime)	ɗāw	hɔ̀ɓ	hīndì	fíɗí	vàtl	kāndī	sēɗā	tʃɔ̃hō̃	tɛ̄rfīɗɛ̄w	ɡùɓ / ɡùp
Musey (Musei) (1)	dèw	ɓà	híndí	fídí	fàɬ	kárɡìyá	kídísìyá	kálvàndì	ɬèŋŋè	dòɡò
Musey (Musei) (2)	dèw	mbà	ɦìndì	fídí	vàɬ	kàrɡìjá	kìdìzìjá	kàlvàndì	ɮèŋè	dòk / dòɡò
Pévé (1)	ɗaw	hoɓ	hínjiʔ	fə́ɗiʔ	váɬ	kánkiʔ	syéɗaʔ *	tsóhoʔ	tʃéfaɗew	ɡuɓ
Pévé (2)	ɗao	hwōɓ	hínjī	fúɗī	vātl	kánkí	sédā	tʃóhō	tʃéfāɗēo	ɡwúɓ
::

References

References

1. Blench, 2006. [http://rogerblench.info/Language/Afroasiatic/General/AALIST.pdf The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List] (ms)
2. Shryock, Aaron. 1997. The classification of the Masa group of languages. ''Studies in African Linguistics'' 26(1): 29‒62.
3. Chan, Eugene. (2019). "The Afro-Asiatic Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.

::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. ::