Northern Songhay

E618290

Northern Songhay is a subgroup of the Songhay languages spoken in the Sahara, characterized by significant contact influence from Berber and Arabic.

All labels observed (4)

Label Occurrences
Northern Songhay canonical 4
Koyra Chiini Songhai 1
Northern Songhai 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Songhay language variety
language subgroup
classificationStatus genetic subgroup of Songhay debated
contrastWith Southern Songhay
documentationStatus underdescribed
geographicDistribution Algeria
Libya
Mali
Niger
Sahara
linked to: Sahara Desert
hasAlternativeName Northern Songhai
linked to: Northern Songhay
hasContactInfluenceFrom Arabic
Berber languages
hasMemberLanguage Korandje
Tabarog
Tagdal
Tasawaq
Tihishit
hasMorphosyntacticInfluenceFrom Arabic
Berber languages
hasPhonologicalInfluenceFrom Berber languages
hasSubstrate Songhay
hasSuperstrate Arabic
Berber
linked to: Amazigh
isEndangered true
languageFamily Nilo-Saharan languages
linguisticArea Saharan Sprachbund
notableLanguageContact Algerian Arabic
linked to: Maghrebi Arabic

Hassaniya Arabic
Tuareg Berber
linked to: Berber
region Aïr Mountains
Gao region
linked to: Gao Region

In-Gall
Tabelbala
researchField African linguistics
contact linguistics
language typology
spokenBy Songhay people
linked to: Songhai people
subgroupOf Songhay languages
typologicalFeature strong lexical borrowing from Arabic
strong lexical borrowing from Berber
structural influence from Arabic
structural influence from Berber
wordOrder predominantly SVO

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Korandje language geneticClassification Northern Songhay
Western Songhay of Timbuktu subclassOf Western Songhay
linked to: Northern Songhay
Koyra Chiini subfamily Northern Songhay
subject linked to: Koyra Chiini (khq)
Koyra Chiini Songhay alternativeName Koyra Chiini Songhai
linked to: Northern Songhay
Northern Songhay hasAlternativeName Northern Songhai
linked to: Northern Songhay
Songhay hasDialect Northern Songhay