Bille

A language of Nigeria

ISO 639-3

Alternate Names

Bile, Bili, Billanchi, Kunbille

Population

38,000 (2012 M. Rueck, Z. Yoder, and K. Hannelová). Elderly are monolingual. Ethnic population: 42,000.

Location

Adamawa State, Demsa LGA, southwest of Numan, along Bille river.

Language Status

6b (Threatened).

Classification

Dialects

Bile [bil], Mbula-Bwazza [mbu], and Kulung [bbu] mutually unintelligible (less than 25%). 48% with Mbula-Bwazza [mbu], 33% with Kulung [bbu].

Language Use

Shifting to Hausa [hau]. Home, with Hausa [hau]. Adults, elders. Positive attitudes. Also use Hausa [hau] or Fulfulde [fuv].

Language Resources

Other Comments

Traditional religion, Christian.