Bete-Bendi

A language of Nigeria

ISO 639: btt
Alternate Names: Bette-Bendi, Dama
Population: 100,000 (2006 L. Otronyi), increasing. Some elderly monolinguals.
Location:: Cross River state: Boki, Obanliku, and Obudu LGAs.
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 Bukpe [ukp], Elege [alf], Obanliku [bzy], 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.

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