Excerpt from change request document:

The Ahwai people speak a single language on a functional level. The expansion of the [nfd] Ndun code element with the merging of [nfg] Nyeng , [nfk] Shakara into it necessitates using a name that identifies the whole group, rather than a single subgroup.

We propose this change based on the results of our language research, undertaken in March 2007 in the southeastern area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. These three related varieties were proved to be varieties of the same language rather than three separate languages. The users of each variety have inherent understanding of the other variety at a functional level. The Ahwai people, as all three groups commonly identify themselves, say they all speak the same language, but with “different intonation”. Their claims of the similarity of and intelligibility between their three speech varieties are supported by the high lexical similarity between varieties (over 86%) and the similarity of their noun-class marking systems, based on the comparison of the 320-items wordlists. Also, although each Ahwai sub-group has a distinct ethnolinguistic identity, they are not antagonistic towards one another. Rather, they desire to cooperate in language development, and come together to preserve their common identity.