Bete-Bendi

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A language of Nigeria

ISO 639-3
btt
Alternate Names
Bette-Bendi, Dama
User Population

100,000 (2006 L. Otronyi), increasing. Some elderly monolinguals.

Location

Cross River state: Boki, Obanliku, and Obudu LGAs.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Cross River, Bendi
Dialects

Bete (Bette, Mbete), Bendi. Bete intelligible of Bendi. Lexical similarity: 82% with Bendi; 64%–72% with Obanliku [bzy], 35% with Ukpe-Bayobiri [ukp], 30%–33% with Alege [alf] and Ubang [uba].

Language Use

Home. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Also use English [eng]. Also use Nigerian Pidgin [pcm]. Used as L2 by Abanglekuo [bzy], Bukpe [ukp], Elege [alf], Ubang [uba].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: Very low. NT: 1982.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Bete-Bendi
Writing

Latin script [Latn], used since 2007.

Other Comments

Different from Bete [byf] in Taraba State and Bété [bet] of Côte d’Ivoire. Bete and Bendi have positive attitudes toward each other. Christian, traditional religion.