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ijaw languages

{{Short description|Language family}}

{{Infobox language family

|name=Ijaw

|altname=Izon

|ethnicity=Ijaw people

|region=Southern Nigeria,
Niger Delta

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Ijoid?

|child1=East

|child2=Central

|child3=West

|iso2=ijo

|iso5=ijo

|glotto=ijoo1239

|glottorefname=Ijo

}}

The Ijaw languages ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|dʒ|ɔː}}),Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh also spelled Ịjọ,generally pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|dʒ|oʊ}} in English are the languages spoken by over 14 million Ijaw people in Nigeria.{{Cite web |title=MINA Ijaw Population Report 2024 Estimate {{!}} PDF {{!}} Nigeria |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/834960992/MINA-Ijaw-Population-Report-2024-Estimate |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Scribd |language=en}}

Classification

The Ijo languages were traditionally considered a distinct branch of the Niger–Congo family (perhaps along with Defaka in a group called Ijoid).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=toYtBEKYtCMC|title=A Grammar of the Kolokuma Dialect of Ịjọ|last=Williamson|first=Kay|date=2011-08-11|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521175265|language=en}} They are notable for their subject–object–verb basic word order, which is otherwise an unusual feature in Niger–Congo, shared only by such distant potential branches as Mande and Dogon. Like Mande and Dogon, Ijoid lacks even traces of the noun class system considered characteristic of Niger–Congo. This motivated Joseph Greenberg, in his initial classification of Niger–Congo, to describe them as having split early from that family. However, owing to the lack of these features, linguist Gerrit Dimmendaal doubts their inclusion in Niger–Congo altogether and considers the Ijoid languages to be an independent family.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0U4k9duWUOIC|title=Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages|last=Dimmendaal|first=Gerrit Jan|date=2011-01-01|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-9027211781|language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Ijoid languages {{!}} Ijoid Languages, Niger-Congo, West Africa {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ijoid-languages |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

The ijoid languages can be classified into three main linguistic groups, Eastern Ijo, Western Ijo and Central Ijo, with the Central Izon (Ijaw) language being the most common.{{Cite web |title=MINA Ijaw Population Report 2024 Estimate {{!}} PDF {{!}} Nigeria |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/834960992/MINA-Ijaw-Population-Report-2024-Estimate |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Scribd |language=en}}{{Cite book|title=An Atlas of Nigerian Languages|last=Blench|first=Roger|publisher=Kay Williamson Educational Foundation|year=2019|edition=4th|location=Cambridge}}

{{tree list}}

  • Ijoid
  • Eastern Ijo
  • Nkoroo
  • Kalabari (Kalabari)
  • Bille (Touma, Krikama, Jikeama)
  • Ibani, Obolo, Wakirike
  • Southeast Ijo/Central Ijo
  • Nembe
  • Akassa
  • Central Ijo/Inland Ijo
  • Central Izon
  • Furupaga, Finima, Engeni, Arogbo, Burutu, Patani, Oboro etc
  • Biseni
  • Akinima, Engeni, Egbema, Mbiama
  • Akita (Okordia)
  • Ogbia (Ogbia, Anyama, Abureni)
  • Abua/Odual, Apoi, Arogbo etc
  • Oruma
  • Western Ijo
  • Furupagha, Apoi, Olodiama, Arogbo etc

{{tree list/end}}

Names and locations

Below is a list of some Ijaw language names, groups, and locations.{{Cite web |title=MINA Ijaw Population Report 2024 Estimate {{!}} PDF {{!}} Nigeria |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/834960992/MINA-Ijaw-Population-Report-2024-Estimate |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Scribd |language=en}}

class="wikitable"
style="width:120px;"|Language

! style="width:120px;"|Group

! style="width:120px;"|Alternate Names

! style="width:120px;"|Speakers

! style="width:120px;"|Location

Oruma

|Central Ijo

|Kąąma, Tugbaru

|

|Bayelsa State

Nembe

|Central Ijo

|Nimbi, Akaha

|Brass, Akassa, Nembe

|Bayelsa State

Kalabari

|Eastern Ijo

|

|Degema, Abonema, Kula, Ke, Asari-Toru, Akuku-Toru, Bille, Krakrama etc

|Rivers State

Ogbia

|Central Ijo

|

|Kolo, Anyama, Immiringi, Emakalakala/Amakalakala, Ogbia, Ewoma, etc

|Bayelsa State

Bille

|Eastern Ijo

|

|Degema, Bille

|Rivers State

Wakiriki

|Eastern Ijo

|Kirike

|Okirika, Ogu-Bolo

|Rivers State

Okodia

|Central Ijo, Western Ijo

|Akita

|Buseni, Yenagoa, Operemo, Opukuma etc

|Bayelsa State, Edo State

Epie/Atissa

|Central Ijo

|

|Yenagoa, Ekpetiama, Akenfa, Gbaran, Agudama, Epie, Atissa etc

|Bayelsa State

Biseni

|Central Ijo

|Buseni

|Biseni, Mbiama, Akinima, Engeni, Egbema etc

|Bayelsa State, Rivers State

Central Izon (Ijaw)

|Central Ijo, Western Ijo

|Ijaw, Izon, Ijo

|Burutu, Sagbama, Bomadi, Warri, Oporoza, Tuomo, Kolokuma, Patani, Southern Ijaw, Ekeremor, Focardos, Ndoro, Opokuma, Egbema, Zide, Kabo, Age, Toru-Orua, Ogobiri, Amassoma, Aleibiri, Torugbene, Angiama, Ayamasa, Igbematoru, Azuzuama, Anyama Ijaw, Okumo/Ukomo, Tarakiri, Furupagha, Boma (Bumo), Oporoma, Olodiama, Pakiama, Oboro, Isama, Akugbene, Okologba etc

|Bayelsa State, Delta State

Apoi

|Central Ijo, Western Ijo

|

|Oboro, Oju-ala, Apoi, Adolesemo, Ese-Odo, Inikorogha, Taribo etc

|Bayelsa State, Ondo State, Delta State

Abua/Odual

|Central Ijo

|

|Abua, Odual

|Rivers State

Arogbo

|Central Ijo, Western Ijo

|

|Finiama, Akpata, Opuba, Ukpe, Ajapa, Arogbo etc

|Bayelsa State, Ondo State

Abureni

|Central Ijo

|

|Abureni, Ogbia

|Bayelsa State

Ibani

|Eastern Ijo

|

|Opobo, Bonny, Finima, Nkoro, Borokiri, Oloma, Abalama, Peretside etc

|Rivers State

Obolo

|Eastern Ijo

|Andoni

|Akaradi, Andoni, Anyama-aganna, Ibeno, Eastern Obolo, Anyamabeko etc

|Rivers State, AkwaIbom State

In the diaspora

Berbice Creole Dutch, an extinct creole spoken in Guyana, had a lexicon based partly on an Ịjọ language, perhaps the ancestor of Kalabari.Kouwenberg 1994

Education and media

In June 2013, the Izon Fie instructional book and audio CDs were launched at a ceremony attended by officials of the government of Bayelsa State. The Niger Delta University is working to expand the range of books available in the Ijo language. Translations of poetry and the Call of the River Nun by Gabriel Okara are underway.{{Cite news

| last = Garba

| first = Kabir Alabi

| title = Izon Fie… Popularising An Indigenous Tongue

| work = The Guardian Nigeria

| access-date = 2013-06-15

| date = 2013-06-08

| url = http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123885:izon-fie-popularising-an-indigenous-tongue&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

}}

See also

{{Portal|Nigeria|Languages}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

  • Freemann, R. A., and Kay Williamson. 1967. Ịjọ proverbs. Research Notes (Ibadan) 1:1-11.
  • Kouwenberg, Silvia 1994. A grammar of Berbice Dutch Creole. (Mouton Grammar Library 12). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Lee, J. D., and Kay Williamson. 1990. A lexicostatistic classification of Ịjọ dialects. Research in African Languages and Linguistics 1:1.1-10.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1963. The syntax of verbs of motion in Ịjọ. J. African Languages 2.150-154.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1966. Ịjọ dialects in the Polyglotta Africana. Sierra Leone Language Review 5. 122-133.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1969. 'Igbo' and 'Ịjọ', chapters 7 and 8 in: Twelve Nigerian Languages, ed. by E. Dunstan. Longmans.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1971. Animal names in Ịjọ. Afr. Notes 6, no. 2, 53-61.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1973. Some reduced vowel harmony systems. Research Notes 6:1-3. 145-169.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1977. Multivalued features for consonants. Language 53.843-871.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1978. From tone to pitch-accent: the case of Ịjọ. Kiabàrà 1:2.116-125.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1979. Consonant distribution in Ịjọ. In: Linguistic and literary studies presented to Archibald Hill, ed. E.C. Polome and W. Winter, 3.341-353. Lisse, Netherlands: Peter de Ridder Press.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1979. Medial consonants in Proto-Ịjọ. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 1.73-94.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1987. Nasality in Ịjọ. In: Current trends in African linguistics, 4, ed. by David Odden, 397-415.
  • Williamson, Kay. 1989. Tone and accent in Ịjọ. In Pitch accent systems, ed. by Harry v.d. Hulst and Norval Smith, 253-278. Foris Publications.
  • Williamson, Kay. 2004. The language situation in the Niger Delta. Chapter 2 in: The development of Ịzọn language, edited by Martha L. Akpana, 9-13.
  • Williamson, Kay, and A. O. Timitimi. 1970. A note on number symbolism in Ịjọ. African Notes (Ibadan) 5:3. 9-16.
  • Williamson, Kay & Timitime, A.O. (197?) 'A note on Ijo number symbolism', African Notes, 5, 3, 9-16.
  • Filatei, Akpodigha. 2006. The Ijaw Language Project. (Editor of www.ijawdictionary.com). www.ijawdictionary.com

;On specific languages

  • Williamson, Kay. 1962. (Republished by Bobbs-Merrill Reprints 1971.). Changes in the marriage system of the Okrika Ịjọ. Africa 32.53-60.
  • Orupabo, G. J., and Kay Williamson. 1980. Okrika. In West African language data sheets, Volume II, edited by M.E. Kropp Dakubu. Leiden: West African Linguistic Society and African Studies Centre.

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090511153520/http://www.ijawdictionary.com/menu/index.php The Ijaw Dictionary Online]

{{Languages of Nigeria}}

{{Ijoid languages}}

{{Language families}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Languages of Nigeria

*

Category:Indigenous languages of Rivers State

Category:Subject–object–verb languages