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Miship, or Chip, is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria. Doka is a dialect. Blench lists the two dialects Longmaar and Jiɓaam.

The Chip people are found in Pankshin LGA.

People

The traditional occupation of Miship people is farming. The people call themselves as well as their abode, Miship while outsiders wrongly call them and also their abode, Chip.

Oral tradition states that they migrated from Kanem-Bornu to their present homeland with other tribes, Ngas, Mupun, and Mwaghavul.

Most Miship names are unisex, so in order to differentiate a man from a woman, the contracted form is used i.e. the prefix Na is added to the root word of the woman's name and Da is added to the root word of the man's. For example, for a man and a woman both sharing:

• Nanɗi, the man would be Danan, and the woman Nanan.
• Ɗenlong, the man would be Daɗen, and the woman Naɗen.
• Shakaham = Dasha/Nasha.

Words

• God - Naan / Nan
• Father - Nda
• Child - La
• Girl - Larep
• Boy - La/La wu mis
• Wash - Vwang
• Person - Gurum
• Rain - Fuan/Fwan
• Children - Jep
• Food - Sɨ/ Gwom/Gom/Mun

• Rice - Kapa
• Acha - Kɨzuk
• Soup - Tok
• Chicken - Koo
• Dog - As
• Goat - Ɨh
• Meat - Lu
• King - Long
• Animal - Long/Lu
• Wild animal - Lu ɗem

Lu can be used to refer to meat from animals. For example, 'chicken' would be Lu Koo. It can also be used to refer to animal. For example, 'Lu' in the following statement stands for animal: 'Mme a lu ɗe mme a gurum ma' = One (of the two) is not an animal while the other is human (direct translation).

Phrases

• What is your name - Sɨm gɨ a we eh? (male); Sɨm yi a we eh? (female)
• Good night - Naan yaghal kɨ mun/Mu foghot ɓit/Naan ep mun
• Bye - Ɗang mu kaat
• Good morning - Teer (shaghap) ah?/Yaghal gwe ah?
• Thank you - Plangɓwer
• I am hungry - Neen laa nnan

Numbers

• 1)One - Kɨme
• 2)Two - Vɨl
• 3)Three - Kun
• 4)Four - Feer
• 5)Five - Paat
• 6)Six - Peme
• 7)Seven - Poghovɨl
• 8)Eight - Poghokun
• 9)Nine - Poghofaar
• 10)Ten - Sar
• 11)Eleven - Sarpo-kɨme/Sarka-kɨme
• 20)Twenty - Yagurum
• 21)Twenty-one - Yagurum kɨ kɨme
• 30)Thirty - Yagurum kɨ sar
• 31)Thirty-one -Yagurum kɨ sarpo-kɨme/Yagurum kɨ sarka-kɨme
• 40)Forty - Yakgurum vɨl
• 41)Forty-one -Yakgurum vɨl kɨ kɨme
• 50)Fifty - Yakgurum vɨl kɨ sar
• 60)Sixty - Yakgurum kun
• 70)Seventy -Yakgurum kun kɨ sar
• 71)Seventy-one - Yakgurum kun kɨ sarpo-kihme/sarka-kɨme
• 80)Eighty - Yakgurum feer
• 81)Eighty-one -Yakgurum feer kɨ kɨme
• 90)Ninety -Yakgurum feer kɨ sar
• 91)Ninety-one - Yakgurum feer kɨ sarpo-kɨme/sarka-kɨme
• 100)One hundred - Yakgurum paat/Ɗaa kɨme/Ɗali kɨme
• 200)Two hundred - Ndaam kɨme/Ɗaa vɨl/Ɗali vɨl/yakgurum sar

References

1. ^ Miship at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Blench, Roger. 2017. Current research on the A3 West Chadic languages.
3. "Official Website of Plateau State". www.plateaustate.gov.ng. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
4. Mohammed, Aminu Muazu; Katwal, Permark Isah (2010). "The Miship: People, language, and dialects" (PDF). California Linguistic Notes.

• Languages of Nigeria
• West Chadic languages