Канури: Язык Сахеля и озеро Чад

Saharan dialect continuum of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon

Kanuri (/k//ə/'/n//ʊər//i/) is a Saharan dialect continuum of the Nilo–Saharan language family spoken by the Kanuri and Kanembu peoples in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as by a diaspora community residing in Sudan.

At the turn of the 21st century, its two main dialects, Manga Kanuri and Yerwa Kanuri (also called Beriberi, which its speakers consider to be pejorative), were spoken by 9,700,000 people in Central Africa. It belongs to the Western Saharan subphylum of Nilo Saharan. Kanuri is the language associated with the Kanem and Bornu empires that dominated the Lake Chad region for a thousand years. The basic word order of Kanuri sentences is subject–object–verb. It is typologically unusual in simultaneously having postpositions and post nominal modifiers – for example, 'Bintu's pot' would be expressed as nje Bintu be, 'pot Bintu of'. Kanuri has three tones: high, low, and falling. It has an extensive system of consonantal lenition; for example, sa 'they' + buma 'have eaten' → za wuna 'they have eaten'. Traditionally a local lingua franca, its usage has declined in recent decades. Most first language speakers speak Hausa or Arabic as a second language.

Kanuri is spoken mainly in lowlands of the Chad Basin, with speakers in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan and Libya.

The Kanuri region in Nigeria consists of Borno State and Yobe State. Some other states such as Jigawa, Gombe and Bauchi are also dominated by Kanuri people, but they are not included in this region. Cities and towns where Kanuri is spoken include Maiduguri, Damaturu, Hadejia, Akko, Duku, Kwami, Kano, Kaduna, Gusau, Jos and Lafia. In central Nigeria, the Kanuri are usually referred to as Bare Bari or Beriberi. Central Kanuri, also known as Yerwa Kanuri, is the main language of the Kanuri people living in Borno State, Yobe State and Gombe State, and it is usually referred to as Kanuri in Nigeria. Manga Kanuri, which is the main language of the Kanuri people in Yobe State, Jigawa State and Bauchi State, is usually referred to as Manga or Mangari or Mangawa, and they are distinct from the Kanuri, which is a term generally used for speakers of Central Kanuri. The Kanembu language is also spoken in Borno State on the border with Chad.

In Niger, the Kanuri region is composed of Diffa Region and Zinder Region in the southeast. Parts of Agadez Region are also Kanuri. Cities where it is spoken include Zinder, Diffa, N'Guigmi and Bilma. In Zinder region, the main dialect is Manga. In Diffa Region, the main dialect is Tumari or Kanembu; Kanembu is spoken by a minority. In Agadez Region, the main dialect is Bilma. Central Kanuri is a minority dialect, and is commonly referred to as Bare Bari or Beriberi.

Kanuri has been written using the Ajami Arabic script, mainly in religious or court contexts, for at least four hundred years. More recently, it is also sometimes written in a modified Latin script. The Gospel of John published in 1965 was produced in Roman and Arabic script.