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Hyam

Hyam is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in Nigeria, by about 300 thousand people.

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Hyam · 9.6°N 8.0°E

Hyam is a regionally important linguistic cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria. Hyam of Nok is the prestige dialect (Blench 2008). Writing the sociolinguistics of Hyam, Blench treats Sait, and Dzar as distinct varieties, and notes that Yat and Ankung may be viewed as separate languages, however, Hayab (2016) presents a differing opinion arguing that it is Ankung, a language called Iduya, that is not mutually intelligible to Hyam. Meanwhile, Hyam, which is spoken by the Ham people of Nigeria, popularly known as 'Jaba' in a recent study by Philip Hayab, a native of the area and a linguist who carried out in-depth research into the language, reveals that 'Jaba' has a Hausa etymology and is derogatory and should be discarded (John 2017).

From Wikipedia · Hyam language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in Hyam

MeaningWordRomanization
personnet*
namekhwok*
eyekpyosu*
eartoN*
nosehywes*
toothzi*
tongueryam*
handbwok*
bloodzhi*
bonekub*
skinkor*
kneekpuru*
breastbaN*
liverfyek*
watertìtaan
fireyaN*
sunnom*
staryet*
stonekyar*
mountainTo*
treeki*
leafTaN*
nightrituk*
dogwegyo*
fishshEs*
louseyob*
onezhini*
twoferi*
Imi*
youNu*

* in the simplified ASJP transcription

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

  • AsheAtlantic-Congo30% alike
  • GanangAtlantic-Congo24% alike
  • AtsamAtlantic-Congo19% alike
  • IkuluAtlantic-Congo19% alike
  • NyankpaAtlantic-Congo18% alike
  • FiranAtlantic-Congo17% alike

Grammar

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

Nearby languages

Elsewhere

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Glottolog · hyam1245 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · jab