Alternate Names: Busa-Bokobaru, Bussawa
Dialects: Kaiama, village Bokobaru. Kaiama dialect speakers and those in other villages have good mutual inherent intelligibility. Distinct from Boko , of Benin or Busa ,. Lexical similarity: 86% with Boko ,, 91% with Busa ,, 62% with Kyanga ,, 54% with Shanga ,, 50% with Bisa , of Burkina Faso and Ghana.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 62,000 (2012 R. Jones). 10,800 in Kaiama, 51,200 in surrounding villages.
Language Use: All ages. Positive attitudes. Also use Baatonum [bba], English [eng], Hausa [hau], Nigerian Fulfulde [fuv], Yoruba [yor].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 10%. Literacy materials available. Low motivation. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 2004.
Typology: SOV; genitives before noun heads; articles, adjective, numerals, relatives after noun heads; question word initial or final; 4 suffixes; word order distinguishes subject, object, indirect object; postpositions; person, number, aspect included in subject pronouns; tone changes some verb aspect; passives; CV, CVV, CCV; tonal.
Writing System: Latin
Nation of Origin: Nigeria
Other Comments: Ethnic autonyms, often used interchangeably: Bokobaru, especially for Kaiama town people, and Zogben, peasant, for village people. The Hausa call several groups of people (Boko, Bokobaru, Busa, Bariba) Bussawa, while the Yoruba call them all Bariba. Glossonym: Bussanchi by the Hausa. Muslim, traditional religion.