Firan (Fɨràn)

Firan is a member of the West-Central Plateau group of Benue-Congo languages. It is spoken by about 5,000 people in and around the villages of Kwakwi and Ntosso in the Ganawuri District of the Riyom Local Government Area in the northwest of Plateau State in central Nigeria. While older adults speak Firan fluently, and children are acquiring the language at home, teenagers and younger adults are shifting to Hausa and English.

Firan is also known as Fɨran, Faran, Fəràn, Fɨràn or Ibaas. It is written with the Latin alphabet, although there are few written materials in the language. The Firan orthography was developed in 2024 mainly by Roger Blench, a British linguist, with recommendations from SIL based on Firan community workshops.

Firan alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Firan (Excel)
Details of the Firan alphabet provided by Wolfram Siegel (PDF)

Sample text

Ngum nye mba yah, “Seko nyin sɛh nassaŋghɛn, nyena, “Adah, yɛrɛŋ nwun ti sɛh igbanaŋ, igwom nwun ti bɛh.
Tik nɔk kuyak yit ku fe koyaŋ kunom.
Tik hanami afɔt yit, aneŋko yit hana gbik aya ko atik nyemi afɔt. Kɔn ti wɔtrhi yit arɔ kuchɛrɛk wɔgh.”

Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/3981/LUK.11.FIR

Translation

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
The Lord's Prayer - Luke 11: 2-4

Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/1/LUK.11.KJV

Links

Information about the Firan language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firan_language
https://grokipedia.com/page/firan_language
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/fira1238
https://www.academia.edu/124772506/Preliminary_dictionary_of_the_F%C9%A8ran_language_of_Central_Nigeria
https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/elp-context/context-18594-firan-source-fran-language-central-nigeria-and-its-affinities
https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/87279

Benue-Congo languages

Akum, Alumu, Anaang, Berom, Cara, Eleme, Eloyi, Firan, Jju

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 01.09.26. Last modified: 01.09.26

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