Jarawa (also known as Jar or Jhar, or in ) is the most populous of the Jarawan languages of northern Nigeria. It is a dialect cluster consisting of many varieties.
Phonology +Consonants in the Mbat dialectLabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosivevoiceless()voicedimplosiveAffricatevoicelessvoicedFricativevoiceless()voiced()()NasalRhoticApproximant
/β/ only appears as a marginal phoneme. [ʔ] only appears in non-word-initial syllables. Sounds /n, t, l, r/ can be heard as palatal or retroflex [ɲ, ʈ, ɭ, ɽ] in word-final position. /k/ can also be heard as uvular [q] in the same position, and may also alternate with [ʁ] or [ɢ].
Sounds /k͡x, ɡ͡ɣ/ can be heard as fricatives [x, ɣ] or [χ, ʁ] in intervocalic position.
+Vowels in the Mbat dialectFrontCentralBackCloseNear-closeMid()()Open
Sounds /ɛ, ɔ/ only appear after glides.
Dialects Jarawa dialects are: Zhár (Bankal) Zugur (Duguri) Gwak (Gingwak) Ndaŋshi Dòòrì Mbat (Bada) Mùùn Kantana Dàmùl Kantana may be a distinct language.
Blench (2019) lists these varieties as dialects of Jar (Jarawa).
Zhar Ligri Kantana Bobar (?) Gwak (Gingwak) Dõõri Mbat Mbat-Galamkya
Danglong (also known as Damlawa in Hausa), which is likely most closely related to Zhar, was discovered by Roger Blench in 2019, who collected a short word list at the time. It is spoken by a few elderly individuals in Danglong village, which is located just north of Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State.Blench, Roger. 2026. The Jarawan Bantu languages in Nigeria; what is new research telling us? 15 July 2026, Jos Linguistic Circle.Blench, Roger. 2024. The Jarawan Bantu languages in Nigeria; what is new research telling us? 7 June 2024, 2nd Conference on Bantoid Languages and Linguistics (Bantoid II), Yaoundé.
Maccido, a stone-walled settlement west of Yankari Game Reserve that is now deserted, was built on the western edge of Yankari Game Reserve, likely by Zhar or related peoples around the 18th century to protect themselves from slave raids.
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