Bayot language
Encyclopedia
Bayot is a language of southern Senegal
, southwest of Ziguinchor
in a group of villages near Nyassia
, in northwestern Guinea-Bissau
, along the Senegalese border, and in The Gambia
.
Bayot has traditionally been considered the most divergent Jola language, in the (geographic) Atlantic branch
of the Niger–Congo
language family
. However, half of its vocabulary, including basic terms such as pronouns, are not Jola or even Atlantic, and may not be Niger–Congo, though grammatically it behaves as a typical Jola language. It is therefore often left unclassified
pending further research.
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, southwest of Ziguinchor
Ziguinchor
Ziguinchor is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of over 230,000...
in a group of villages near Nyassia
Nyassia
Niassia is a village and commune in Ziguinchor Department, Ziguinchor Region, Casamance, Senegal.-Administration:Niassia is the capital of the rural community of Niassia and Niassia district...
, in northwestern Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
, along the Senegalese border, and in The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
.
Bayot has traditionally been considered the most divergent Jola language, in the (geographic) Atlantic branch
Atlantic languages
The Atlantic or West Atlantic languages of West Africa are an obsolete proposed major group of the Niger–Congo languages. They are those languages west of Kru which have the noun-class systems characteristic of the Niger–Congo family; in this they are distinguished from their Mande neighbors, which...
of the Niger–Congo
Niger–Congo languages
The Niger–Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in terms of distinct languages, although this question...
language family
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
. However, half of its vocabulary, including basic terms such as pronouns, are not Jola or even Atlantic, and may not be Niger–Congo, though grammatically it behaves as a typical Jola language. It is therefore often left unclassified
Unclassified language
Unclassified languages are languages whose genetic affiliation has not been established by means of historical linguistics. If this state of affairs continues after significant study of the language and efforts to relate it to other languages, as in the case of Basque, it is termed a language...
pending further research.