Ijoid languages
Proposed language family of southern Nigeria
title: "Ijoid languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ijoid-languages", "niger–congo-languages", "language-families"] description: "Proposed language family of southern Nigeria" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijoid_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Proposed language family of southern Nigeria ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language family"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ijoid |
| region | Southern Nigeria |
| familycolor | Niger-Congo |
| child1 | Ijaw |
| child2 | ?Defaka |
| glotto | ijoi1239 |
| glottorefname | Ijoid |
| family | Niger–Congo? |
| :: |
|name=Ijoid |region=Southern Nigeria |familycolor=Niger-Congo |child1=Ijaw |child2=?Defaka |glotto=ijoi1239 |glottorefname=Ijoid |family=Niger–Congo?}}
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Nigeria_Benin_Cameroon_languages.png" caption="Map of languages of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin" alt="Map of languages of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin"] ::
Ijoid is a proposed but undemonstrated group of languages linking the Ijaw languages (Ịjọ) with the endangered Defaka language. The similarities, however, may be due to Ijaw influence on Defaka.
The Ijoid languages, or perhaps just Ijaw, are proposed to form a divergent branch of the hypothetical Niger–Congo family and are noted for their subject–object–verb basic word order, which is otherwise an unusual feature in Niger–Congo, shared only by such distant branches as Mande and Dogon. Like Mande and Dogon, Ijoid lacks even traces of the noun class system considered characteristic of Niger–Congo, and so might have split early from that family. Linguists Gerrit Dimmendaal and Tom Güldemann doubt its inclusion in Niger–Congo altogether and consider the Ijaw/Ijoid languages to be an independent family.
Comparative vocabulary
Sample basic vocabulary for Proto-Ijaw, Kalabari, and Defaka:
::data[format=table]
| Language | eye | ear | nose | tooth | tongue | mouth | blood | bone | tree | water | eat | name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Ijaw | *tɔrɪ³ | *ɓeri¹ | *nḭnḭ³ | *aka² | *ɪ̰ɓɛ̰lɛʊ² | *ɓɪpɪ² | *asɪ̰ɪ̰¹ | *ṵgbəu² | *tɛ̰ɪ̰² | *ɓed̰i¹ | *fɪɪ² | *ɪrɛ² |
| Kalabari | tɔ́rʊ̄ | ɓeri | nínī | áká | ɓɛ́lɛ́ | ɓɪ́ɓɪ́ | ímgbe | ɔmbɪ-yé, pulo | sɪ́n | minji | fɪ́ | ɛ́rɛ́ |
| Defaka | ɔ́yɔ | ɓasi | níni | nɪan | mɛndʊɔ | ɓɪ́ɪ́ | ḿbua | asi | ibo tiin | mbɪ́á | éé | ɪ́tá |
| :: |
Numerals
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
::data[format=table]
| Classification | Language | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defaka | Defaka | ɡbérí | mààmà | táátó | nɛ́ì | túúnɔ̀ | màànɡò | túààmà (5 + 2?) | túàtùà (5 + 3?) | túùnèì (5 + 4?) | wóì |
| Ijo, East, Northeastern | Nkoroo | ɡbɔ́rí | màmì | tárú | nɛ̃́ĩ́ | sɔ́nɔ́ | sóníá | sɔ́nɔ́mà | nínì (4+4?) | ísíéní | ójí |
| Ijo, East, Northeastern, Eastern | Ibani | ŋ̀ɡɪ̀ɛ́ | m̀mɛ̀ɛ́ | tɛ́rɛ́ | íní | sɔ́nɔ́ | sóníɛ́ | sɔ́nɔ́mà | ínínè | éséníé | àtìé / ójí |
| Ijo, East, Northeastern, Eastern | Okrika (Kalabari) | ŋ̀ɡèi | màɪ̃ | tɛrɛ | ineĩ | sɔnɔ | sonio | sɔnɔmɛ̀ | ninè | esenie | oji, àtèi |
| Ijo, West Ijo | Izon (Ijaw/Ijo) (1) | kẹnị́ | mamụ́ | tǎrụ | nóín | sọ́nrọ́n =sɔ̃́rɔ̃́ ? | sǒndie | sọ́nọ́ma | nínɡíni | isé | óí |
| Ijo, West Ijo | Izon (Ijaw/Ijo) (2) | kẹnị́ | mamụ́ | tǎrụ | nóín | sọ́nrọ́n =sɔ̃́rɔ̃́ ? | sǒndie | sọ́nọ́ma | nínɡíni | isé | óí |
| Ijo, West Ijo | Izon (Ijaw/Ijo) (3) | kẹnị́ | maamụ́ | tǎarụ | nóín | sọ́nrọ́n =sɔ̃́rɔ̃́ ? | sǒndie | sọ́nọ́ma | níníni or nínɡíni | isé | oyi/ óí |
| Ijo, West, Inland Ijo | Okordia | kɛ̀nɪ | maamʊ | taarʊ | nii | sɔ̃ɔ̃rɔ̃ | sɔ̃zie / sɔ̃zɪ | sɔnɔmà | màà fùi | sioni, eji karama (10 - 1) | eji |
| :: |
Bibliography
- Jenewari, Charles E. W. (1989) 'Ijoid'. In Bendor-Samuel, John and Hartell, Rhonda L. (eds.), The Niger–Congo languages: A classification and description of Africa's largest language family, 105-118. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
- Williamson, Kay. 1969. 'Igbo' and 'Ịjọ', chapters 7 and 8 in: Twelve Nigerian Languages, ed. by E. Dunstan. Longmans.
- Williamson, Kay. 1971. The Benue–Congo languages and Ịjọ. In: Current Trends in Linguistics, Vol. 7, series ed. by T. A. Sebeok, 245-306.
- Williamson, Kay. 1988. Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of the Niger Delta. In: The Prehistory of the Niger Delta, ed. by E.J. Alagoa and others. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.
- Williamson, Kay. 1998. Defaka revisited. The multi-disciplinary approach to African history, edited by Nkparom C. Ejituwu, Chapter 9, 151-183. Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press.
- 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 & Blench, Roger (2000) 'Niger–Congo', in Heine, Bernd and Nurse, Derek (eds) African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University press, pp. 11–42.
References
References
- Roger Blench, [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/General/Niger-Congo%20an%20alternative%20view.pdf Niger-Congo: an alternative view]
- Dimmendaal, Gerrit Jan. (2011-01-01). "Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages". John Benjamins Publishing.
- Babaev, Kirill. "Joseph Greenberg and the Current State of Niger-Congo".
- Blench, Roger M. and Kay Williamson. 2007. ''Comparative Ijoid Word List''. Unpublished Manuscript.
- Jenewari, Charles E. W. 1983. ''Defaka: Ijo's closest relative''. (Delta Series, 2.) University of Port Harcourt Press. {{ISBN. 978-2321-39-7
- Chan, Eugene. (2019). "The Niger-Congo Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::