Laru language

Laru
Shen
Native toNigeria
RegionNiger State
Native speakers
(5,000 cited 1995)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3lan
Glottologlaru1238
ELPShen
Laru
PersonShen
LanguageShen gwe

Laru (Laro), or Shen (Sengwe[2]), is a minor Kainji language[3] of Nigeria. Speakers are shifting to Busa.

Dialects

There are three dialects of Shen spoken in the following villages:[4]

  • Kárábàndéi and Sànsání
  • Sàːgúnú4, Sʷàʃí, Lúmːà, and Barkatai
  • Mɔ̀nːáĩ, Sáŋkʷà, and Màláːlé

The major villages, ordered from largest to smallest, are Sàːgúnú, Kárábàndéi, Sʷàʃí, Lúmːà, and Mɔ̀nːáĩ. There are fewer than 4,000 speakers.

Ethnologue (22nd ed.) lists Laru villages as Karabonde, Leshigbe, Luma, Monnai, Sansanni, and Shagunu.

References

  1. ^ Laru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ McGill, Stuart. 2012. The Kainji languages. Ms, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 30 August 2012.
  3. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Laru (Nigeria)". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ^ Blench, Roger (2012). "The Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria" (PDF). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.