Nigeria, Southern Bauchi Area of Northern Nigeria, mainly spoken in the Bùrè village (Kirfi district).
Language situation
Moribund language: only a few elderly speakers are left
Number of speakers
Only 10 people can be regarded as fluent speakers
Socio-linguistic context – description
The Bubburè language is about to undergo a complete language shift as it is in the process of being replaced by Hausa, the main language of the area. The process might be said to have started in the early 18th century and is about to lead to a complete disappearing of the Bubburè language. Only ten speakers (all above the age of 65) are said to be semi-fluent users of the language. Today all the “last speakers” (semi-speakers) of Bubburè are either bilingual, some Bubburè and Hausa, or fluent in Hausa and Fulfulde. Bubburè is only used with a large number of Hausa words when communicating secrets to one another on social occasions. Hausa is used at home and in intra-group communication and when communicating with young people, children and grandchildren.
The people call themselves and their language Bubburè. The Hausa and neighbouring ethnic groups call the language Burancii and the people Buraawaa (plural).
Unicode support
Yes
This item can be found in the following topics:
· Nigeria
