Bata language

Bama is a Fãngra language spoken in the city of Bama and in Southern Fãngra (Fẽma), a region of the Fãngra Queendom.

History
After The Segregation, Bama was critically endangered inside the cities where the standard variety prevailed for a long time in education. Fẽma, the main dialect spoken in the South, was also growing stronger in rural villages. Most villages were bilingual, speaking both Bata and Fẽma.

However, as the lower class started to slowly grow again, Fẽma, which never stopped being spoken in the main cities, prevailed, replacing the standard variety and making it a liturgical language. Bata was spoken in very few villages and by a minority of people in the city. Fẽma grew in speakers when villagers started moving to the cities searching for a better life and were forced to assimilate and speak the dialect, as it was considered more important.

In 8750, a revival project to keep Bama alive was started, encouraged by Dablūma, a well-known writer and poet. The book Dī Ublilwūn Lugat (About the Language of the Dead) written by him explores the status of the dialect and why its revival is necessary. The revival of Bama worked slowly. It began to be taught in the city of Bama and schools were also built in the rural villages. After a few decades, it was made one of the official languages of the city of Bama. However, it was not recognised in the country as a whole.