Language

Duli–Gewe language

Provisional — awaiting verification

From Wikipedia

Duli (Gewe, Gueve, Gey) is an extinct Adamawa language of northern Cameroon.

Classification

Although Boyd (1989:184) had classified Duli as one of the Duru languages, Kleinewillinghöfer finds no evidence of it being a Duru language and treats it as a separate group within the Adamawa–Gur continuum.

Dialects

Blench (2004) links Duli to the extinct Gewe (Gey) language; Glottolog states that Gey is undemonstrated as a distinct language, and the ISO 639 code for Gewe was retired in 2016. Duli and Gewe (Gey) were closely related language varieties, and were probably dialects of the same language according to Kleinewillinghöfer (2015). They were spoken around the confluence of the Benue and Mayo-Kebbi Rivers, and are documented by a word list in Strümpell (1922/23).

Geographical distribution

Today, the Gey, who number about a 1,000 people in the east of Pitoa (Pitoa commune, Bénoué department, North Region), according to the ORSTOM population map of 1964. SIL (1982) estimates the ethnic population as 1,900. The Gey now recognize the Lamido of Tchéboa as their ruler, and they currently speak only Fulfulde.

Duli is spoken near Pitoa (Pitoa commune) and Garoua (Bénoué department, North Region). Eldridge Mohammadou also notes that only a few Duli words had been collected. As a result, the language is essentially undocumented.

Vocabulary

Text from the Wikipedia article “Duli–Gewe language”, revision of 10 October 2026, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Wikipedia is written by volunteers; check important facts against the sources it cites.

This record is provisional: it was compiled from the cited sources but has not yet been checked by an InsideKamer editor.

Sources

  1. 1.
    Duli
    WikidataLast verified: 23 October 2026
  2. 2.
    Duli–Gewe language
    Wikipedia (English)Published 10 October 2026Last verified: 23 October 2026
  3. 3.
    Duli-gey
    Wikipédia (français)Published 22 February 2026Last verified: 23 October 2026

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