Harman Patil (Editor)

Bayot language

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Native to
  
Senegal, Guinea-Bissau

Language family
  
unclassified

ISO 639-3
  
bda

Native speakers
  
19,000 (2006)

Dialects
  
Essin

Glottolog
  
bayo1255

Bayot (Baiot, Baiote, Bayotte) is a language of southern Senegal, southwest of Ziguinchor in a group of villages near Nyassia, in northwestern Guinea-Bissau, along the Senegalese border, and in the Gambia.

Bayot has traditionally been considered the most divergent Jola language, in the (geographic) Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family. However, half of its vocabulary, including basic terms such as pronouns, are not Jola or even Atlantic, and may not be Niger–Congo, though grammatically it behaves as a typical Jola language. It is therefore often left unclassified pending further research.

References

Bayot language Wikipedia