Kim language#Kim people
{{Short description|Mbum language spoken in Chad}}
{{For|the language of Sierra Leone|Kim language (Sierra Leone)}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Kim
|nativename=
|states=Chad
|ethnicity=Kim
|speakers={{sigfig|15400|2}}
|date=1993 census
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=Atlantic–Congo
|fam3=Mbum–Day
|fam4=Kim languages
|dia1=Garap
|dia2=Gerep
|dia3=Kolop
|dia4=Kosop
|iso3=kia
|glotto=kimm1246
|glottorefname=Kim
}}
The Kim language of southern Chad is an Mbum language spoken by 15,000 people. It is one of the three members of the Kim languages group, together with Besme and Goundo.
The language was once mistakenly classified as Chadic, and called Masa, a Chadic name.
There is strong dialectical divergence; Blench considers Garap (Éré), Gerep (Djouman, Jumam), Kolop (Kilop, Kolobo), and Kosop (Kwasap, Kim) to be distinct languages.Roger Blench, 2004. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/AU/Adamawa%20language%20list.pdf List of Adamawa languages] (ms)
Kim people
The Kim are a people of Chad, who mainly inhabit four villages in the Mayo-Kebbi Est region. The 1993 RGPH census reported a total population of 15,354 in Chad.
Principal economic activities include cultivation of finger millet, taro, and rice, fishing, and pottery.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}
The Kim are mainly Christians ({{circa|65%}}), but many of them also profess their own tribal beliefs ({{circa|35%}}).
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Adamawa languages}}
{{Ethnic groups in Chad}}
{{AtlanticCongo-lang-stub}}