The twenty Central Plateau languages are a residual branch of the Plateau family

Plateau languages

-Characteristics:Only some of the languages have nominal classes, as the Bantu languages have, where in others these have eroded. The large numbers of consonants in many languages is due to the erosion of noun-class prefixes....

 spoken in central Nigeria. Tyap, or Katab, has 130 000 speakers, and the closely related Jju Kaje has well over 300 000. Hyam, or Jabba, has another 100 000. Cori is famous for being one of very few languages with six tone levels, though only three are needed for writing.

Classification

The Central Plateau languages are a close geographical group with numerous connections; however, they are to some extent a residual group, and may be a sprachbund

Sprachbund

A Sprachbund – also known as a linguistic area, convergence area, diffusion area or language crossroads – is a group of languages that have become similar in some way because of geographical proximity and language contact. They may be genetically unrelated, or only distantly related...

. The following classification is taken from Blench (2008). A distinction between North Plateau and the rest of Central Plateau is possible but appears to be geographic; Gerhardt (1994) argues they belong together.

Each of the terminal bullets which follows is a discrete language or dialect cluster and is obviously valid. However, most of the groups (Hyamic, North Plateau, Gyongic, Koro) are not self-evident and may continue to be revised.

• Rigwe
  Rigwe language
  The Rigwe language, Irigwe, is a Plateau language of Nigeria....
  
   (Irigwe)
• Izeric
  • Izere
    Izere language
    Izere is a dialect cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria. According to Blench , it is four languages, though Ethnologue does not distinguish NW and NE Izere. The Cen and Ganang varieties are spoken by only a couple thousand each. Cen has added Berom noun-class prefixes and consonant alternation...
    
    : NE & NW Izere, Cèn, Ganàng
  • Fəràn (Firan) – clearly related to Izere
• Tyapic
  • Tyap (Katab): Tyap, Gworok, Atakar, Kacicere, Sholio, Kafancan
  • Jju (Kaje) – probably part of the Tyap cluster
• Hyamic
  • Cori
    Cori language
    The Cori language is a minor Plateau language spoken in a single village in Kaduna State in Nigeria.Cori is known for having six distinct levels of tone, too many to transcribe using the International Phonetic Alphabet, which allows five. However, there are only three underlying tones: 1 , 4 , and...
    
    
  • Hyam
    Hyam language
    Hyam, or Jabba, is a regionally important dialect cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria. Hyam of Nok is the prestige dialect. Blench treats it, Sait, and Dzar as distinct languages, and notes that Yaat and Ankun may also be separate.-References:*Blench . Manuscript....
    
     (Jabba): Hyam of Nok, Sait, Dzar; maybe Yaat, Ankun also separate
  • Shamang
  • Zhire (Shang is relexified Zhire)
• Koro
  • Koro
    Ashe language
    Ashe is a dialect cluster of Plateau languages in Nigeria. It is also called Koro, a cover term for several other local languages, such as the Jilic languages....
    
    : Ashe, Begbere-Ejar
  • ? Idun
    Idun language
    Idun is a poorly attested Plateau language of Nigeria. Its classification is uncertain, but may be closest to Ashe....
    
    
• Gyongic
  • Gyong (Kagoma)
  • Kamanton
• Yeskwa
  Yeskwa language
  Yeskwa is a Plateau language of Nigeria. It sometimes appears in the literature as Nyenkpa, which is a dialect. The prestige dialect is Tattara....
  
   (Nyankpa)
• North Plateau
  • Kadara
  • Kuturmi
  • Kulu
    Kulu language
    The Kulu language, Ikulu, is a Plateau language of Nigeria....
    
     (Ikulu)
  • Idon
  • Doka
  • Iku (Iku-Gora-Ankwe)

External links

• Plateau materials from Roger Blench