Also Known As:
Somyewe, Somyɛwɛ, Kila, Kilayen, Kila Yang, Somyiwe, Sombe, Sombə, Fur
Dialects & Varieties
Moribund Languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon Borderland
Bruce Connell. 1998. "Moribund Languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon Borderland." In Endangered Languages in Africa, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. 207-225. Köppe Verlag.
Severely Endangered
80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
20
Native Speakers Worldwide
Domains of Use
Domain Of Use 3
Used mainly in the home and/or with family, but remains the primary language of these domains for many community members.
3
Transmission
Transmission 3
Some adults in the community are speakers, but the language is not spoken by children.
3
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
No results found.
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"[The] language [was] used only by blacksmiths... Now, in the face of important goods and changing customs, the local blacksmith trade has lost its earlier importance. In earlier times... a prospective husband was required to provide his future wife's family with... 10 hoes... The loss of traditions such as this, together with the almost exclusive use of imported hoes, has ultimately affected the status of the language. Like the most people in the general region, the Somyewe use Fulfulde as a lingua franca; however the primary language of their community... is Maberem, a Mambila lect, and it is this which the younger people - the sons and daughters of the former blacksmiths - know as their first language. In the Cameroon village where Somyev is spoken, the Somyewe have similarly adopted the language of the village, Torbi, also a Mambila lect."
Location and Context
Countries
Cameroon, Nigeria
Location Description
"Somyev... is spoken in two villages, one in Cameroon and one in Nigeria, with the majority of speakers (approximately 15) being in the Nigerian village of Kila Yang"
Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
No results found.
Other Languages Used By The Community
Maberem, Fulfulde, Torbi
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
Primary language of the community (Maberem, Torbi), lingua franca (Fulfulde)
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
No results found.
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
No results found.
Recent Resources
Consonants in the Somyev Language
" slave" in the Somyev Language
This deposit consists of annotated audio recordings of two speakers of Somyev, spoken in Taraba Stat