Isoko language

{{Short description|Edoid language spoken in Nigeria}}

{{Infobox language

|name = Isoko

|region = Nigeria

|ethnicity = Isoko

|speakers = {{sigfig|681,000|2}}

|date = 2020

|ref = e25

|familycolor = Niger-Congo

|fam2 = Atlantic–Congo

|fam3 = Volta–Niger

|fam4 = {{sm|yeai}}

|fam5 = Edoid

|fam6 = Southwestern

|iso3 = iso

|glotto = isok1239

|glottorefname = Isoko

}}

Isoko{{Cite web |title=language {{!}} Definition, Types, Characteristics, Development, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/language |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} is one of the languages in Delta State{{Cite web |title=Delta State Government- The BIG Heart |url=https://www.deltastate.gov.ng/ |access-date=2022-03-06 |language=en-US}} spoken by the Isoko people in Isoko South, North and part of Ndokwa East Local Government Areas {{Cite web |title=Nigeria: Administrative Division (States and Local Government Areas) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/php/nigeria-admin.php |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=www.citypopulation.de}} of Delta State,{{Cite web |title=Brief History of Delta State:: Nigeria Information & Guide |url=https://www.nigeriagalleria.com/Nigeria/States_Nigeria/Delta/Brief-History-of-Delta-State.html |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=www.nigeriagalleria.com}} Southern part of Nigeria in Niger Delta region.{{Cite web |title=The Niger Delta – Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group |url=https://www.nigerdeltabudget.org/the-niger-delta/ |access-date=2022-03-06 |language=en-US}} It is also spoken in some part of Bayelsa. Isoko is an Edoid language{{Cite web |title=language {{!}} Definition, Types, Characteristics, Development, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/language |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} The Isoko people are a tribe with some of their ancestral roots traced through history to the Benin (Aka) kingdom while some of the Isoko communities or clans have their origins from the Igbo and Urhobo. Some 750,000 people consider themselves Isoko.{{Cite web|title=Isoko|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100012876|access-date=2021-09-16|website=Oxford Reference|language=en}} Language{{Cite web |title=language {{!}} Definition, Types, Characteristics, Development, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/language |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} is a mark of identity and plays an all-important role in the life of a people. The Isoko language {{Cite web |title=language {{!}} Definition, Types, Characteristics, Development, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/language |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} however, is being threatened with extinction as reported by Idudhe (2002), as a result of neglect in teaching, learning and use.{{Cite book|last=Idudhe|first=P.A|title=Threat of Extinction to Minority Languages: An Overview of the Isoko Language" in Arohunmolase Oyewole|publisher=Complete Computers and Education Services|year=2002|location=Ondo}} The Isoko language{{Cite web |title=language {{!}} Definition, Types, Characteristics, Development, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/language |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} has about 20 to 21 dialects, but the Aviara/Uzere dialect is the standard dialect of the language.{{Cite web |title=language {{!}} Definition, Types, Characteristics, Development, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/language |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Michael A. Marioghae, working with Peter Ladefoged in 1962, made one of a few audio recordings of sample Isoko words that are made available at the UCLA phonetics archive.{{Cite web|url=http://archive.phonetics.ucla.edu/Language/ISO/iso.html|title=Isoko|website=archive.phonetics.ucla.edu}}