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Ogoni languages

{{Short description|Cross River language group of Nigeria}}

{{Infobox language family

|name=Ogoni

|ethnicity=Ogoni people

|altname=Kegboid

|region=SE Nigeria

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Benue–Congo

|fam4=Cross River

|child1=East

|child2=West

|glotto=ogon1240

|glottorefname=Ogonoid

}}

The Ogoni languages, or Kegboid languages, are the five languages of the Ogoni people of Rivers State, Nigeria.

They fall into two clusters, East and West, with a limited degree of mutual intelligibility between members of each cluster. The Ogoni think of the cluster members as separate languages.

The classification of the Ogoni languages is as follows:

  • East: Khana and Tẹẹ, with around 1,800,000 speakers between them, and Gokana, with about 250,000.
  • West: Eleme, with about 90,000 speakers, and Baan, with around 50,500.

Names and locations

Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).{{Cite book|title=An Atlas of Nigerian Languages|last=Blench|first=Roger|publisher=Kay Williamson Educational Foundation|year=2019|edition=4th|location=Cambridge}}

class="wikitable sortable" | style="font-size: 85%;" |

! Language !! Branch !! Dialects !! Alternate spellings !! Own name for language !! Endonym(s) !! Other names (location-based) !! Other names for language !! Exonym(s) !! Speakers !! Location(s)

GokanaKegboid54,000 (1973 SIL)Rivers State, Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGA
KhanaKegboidYeghe, Nyokhana, Ken–Khana, Boúe, KaaKhanaOgoni (ethnic and political term includes Gokana)76,713 (1926 Talbot);Talbot, P. Amaury 1926. The peoples of Southern Nigeria. A sketch of the history, ethnology and languages with an abstract of the 1923 census. 4 vols. London. 90,000 (SIL)Rivers State, Khana/Oyigbo and Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGAs
ElemeWest55,000 (1987 UBS)Rivers State, Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGA
TẹẹWestTaiTèẹ̀ ̣Tèẹ̀ ̣313,000 (2006)Rivers State, Tèẹ̀ ̣Local Government Area (TALGA)
BaanKa-Ban, KesariBan–OgoiGoi, OgoiFewer than 5,000 (1990)Rivers State, Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGA, Ban–Ogoi plus villages

See also

References

{{reflist}}

  • Blench, Roger and Kay Williamson. 2008. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/BC/Cross%20River/Ogoni/Comparative%20Ogonic%20RMB.pdf The Ogoni languages: comparative word list and historical reconstructions].

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{{Cross River languages}}

{{Niger-Congo branches}}

Category:Cross River languages

Category:Indigenous languages of Rivers State