Laru language
{{Short description|Kainji language spoken in Nigeria}}
{{distinguish|Laro language}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Laru
|nativename=Shen
|region=Niger State
|states=Nigeria
|speakers=6,000
|date=1995–2014
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=Atlantic–Congo
|fam3=Benue–Congo
|fam4=Kainji
|fam5=Kainji Lake?
|lc1=lan
|ld1=Laru
|lc2=cbq
|ld2=Cuba
|dia1=Laru (Shen)
|dia2=Cuba (Tsucuba, Shuba)
|glotto=laru1238
|glottoname=Laru/Shen
|glottorefname=Laru (Nigeria)
|glotto2=cuba1236
|glottoname2=Cuba/Shuba
|glottorefname2=Cuba
}}
{{infobox ethnonym|Shen||Shen gwe||Laru}}
Laru (Laro, also Shen or SengweMcGill, Stuart. 2012. The Kainji languages. Ms, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 30 August 2012.) is a minor Kainji language of Nigeria. It has one dialect: Cuba (Tsucuba, Shuba). Speakers are shifting to Busa.
Dialects
There are three dialects of Shen, spoken in the following villages.{{Cite web|last=Blench|first=Roger|url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Kainji/General/Kainji%20language%20overview.pdf|title=The Kainji languages of northwestern and central Nigeria|publisher=Kay Williamson Educational Foundation|year=2012|location=Cambridge}}
- Kárábàndéi and Sànsání
- Sàːgúnú4, Sʷàʃí, Lúmːà, and Barkatai
- Mɔ̀nːáĩ, Sáŋkʷà, and Màláːlé
The major villages, ordered from largest to smallest, are Sàːgúnú, Kárábàndéi, Sʷàʃí, Lúmːà, and Mɔ̀nːáĩ. There are fewer than 4,000 speakers.
Ethnologue (22nd ed.) lists Laru villages as Karabonde, Leshigbe, Luma, Monnai, Sansanni, and Shagunu.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Platoid languages}}
{{Kainji-lang-stub}}