Mina | |
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Hina | |
Besleri | |
Native to | Cameroon |
Region | Far North Region |
Native speakers | 11,000 (2000)[1] |
Dialects |
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | hna |
Glottolog | mina1276 |
The Mina language, also known by the names Hina and Besleri, is a Chadic language spoken in Northern Cameroon by 10,000 people. Speakers of Mina are generally bilingual, with Fulfulde (Fula) being the second language. Fulfulde is often joined by French as a third language in educated speakers.[1]
Besleri is spoken in most of Hina commune (Mayo-Tsanaga Department, Far North Region), with Gamdugun and Jinjin in the southwest and southeast of the area, respectively.[2]
Frajzyngier & Johnston (2005) list three Mina dialects: Marbak, Kefedjevreng and Dzundzun. Ethnologue also lists three: Besleri, Jingjing (Dzumdzum), Gamdugun. While the correspondence of "Jingjing" and "Dzundzun" is clear, the identity of the others is not. Mutual intelligibility between dialects is difficult to ascertain, but Frajzyngier & Johnston (2005:3) demonstrate one-way intelligibility between Dzundzun and Mina (presumably meaning the Marbak dialect).
Tera (A.1) | |||||||||||||
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Bura–Higi |
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Wandala (Mandara) (A.4) |
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Mafa (A.5) |
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Daba (A.7) |
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Bata (Gbwata) (A.8) | |||||||||||||
Mandage (Kotoko) (B.1) |
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East– Central |
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Others | |||||||||||||
Italics indicate extinct languages. See also: Chadic languages |