u̠t-Ma'in or Fakai is a Northwest Kainji dialect continuum spoken by 36,000 people in Nigeria. (The letter ⟨u̠⟩ is /ə/.) There are numerous rather divergent dialects:

  • Kag (Puku, Fakanchi, Et-Kag)
  • Jiir (Gelanchi, Et-Jiir)
  • Kur (Kere, Kar, Keri-Ni, Kelli-Ni, Kelanchi, Kelinci)
  • Zuksun (Zussun, Et-Zuksun)
  • Ror (Et-Maror, Tudanchi, Er-Gwar)
  • Fer (Fere, Et-Fer, Wipsi-Ni, Kukum)
  • Us (Et-Us)
  • Koor (Kulu)

Names

Names for the u̠t-Ma'in peoples and languages from Blench (2012):

Hausa namec-Lela namePeopleLanguage
FakkawaPək-nuKag-neǝt-Kag
FakkawaPək-nuəs-Usǝt-Us
GelawaGeeri-nia-Jiirǝt-Jiir
ZuksunWipsi-nia-Zuksunǝt-Zuksun
KukumawaWipsi-niəs-Ferǝt-Fer
KelawaKeri-niKər-niǝt-Kər
Tuduwaǝd-Gwana-Rorǝt-ma-Ror
Kuluwa?a-Koorǝt-ma-Koor

Geographic distribution

The Ut-Ma'in language is spoken mainly in Kebbi State (especially Fakai) and Sokoto State (Kebbe) but also in Niger State (Kontagora) and Zamfara State.

Further reading