Tikar language

Tikar is a language spoken in Cameroon by the Bankim, Ngambe and related Tikar peoples as well as by the Bedzan Pygmies. Variants of the name are Tikali, Tikar-East, Tikari, Tingkala.

Tikar
Native to	Cameroon
Ethnicity	Tikar, Bedzan
Native speakers	110,000 (2005)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Northern Bantoid Tikar
Dialects	Ndobo Bedzan (Medzan)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tik
Glottolog	tika1246

Classification

Blench (2011) states that the little evidence available suggests that it is most closely related to the Mambiloid and Dakoid languages.[2]

Varieties

Tikar can be divided into three varieties, which are Tikari, Tige, and Tumu.[3]

A Bandobo variety (Ndobo, Ndob, Ndome) may be a separate language. Less divergent dialects are Twumwu (Tumu) in Bankim, Tige in Ngambé, Nditam, Kong, Mankim, Gambai and Bedzan.

References

1. Tikar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Blench, Roger (2011). "'The membership and internal structure of Bantoid and the border with Bantu" (PDF). Berlin: Humboldt University. p. 16.
3. Stanley, Carol. 1991. Description morphosyntaxique de la langue Tikar (parlée au Cameroun). Ph.D. Sorbonne. SIL International.