Ijaw languages explained

Also Known As:	Ịjọ
Izon
Ethnicity:	Ijaw people
Region:	Southern Nigeria
Familycolor:	Niger-Congo
Fam2:	Ijoid
Child1:	East
Child2:	Central–West
Iso2:	ijo
Iso5:	ijo
Glotto:	ijoo1239
Glottorefname:	Ijo

The Izon languages,^[1] otherwise known as the Ịjọ languages,^[2] are the languages spoken by the Izon people in southern Nigeria.

Classification

The Ijo languages were traditionally considered a distinct branch of the Niger–Congo family (perhaps along with Defaka in a group called Ijoid).^[3] 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.^{[4] [5]}

The following internal classification is based on Jenewari (1989) and Williamson & Blench (2000).

• Ijoid
  • East
    • Nkoroo
    • Kalabari (Bonny/Ibani, Okrika/Kirike)
    • Bille (Touma, Krikama, Jikeama)
    • Southeast Ijo
      • Nembe
      • Akassa
  • West (or Central)
    • Izon
    • Inland Ijo
      • Biseni
      • Akita (Okordia)
      • Oruma

Blench (2019) moves Southeast Ijo into the West (or Central) branch.^[6]

• Ijoid
  • East
    • Nkoroo
    • Kalabari (Bonny/Ibani, Okrika/Kirike)
    • Bille
  • West (or Central)
    • Southeast Ijo
      • Nembe
      • Akassa
    • Izon–Inland Ijo
      • Izon
      • Inland Ijo
        • Biseni
        • Akita (Okordia)
        • Oruma

Names and locations

Below is a list of Ijaw language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).^[6]

Language	Cluster	Alternate spellings	Own name for language	Endonym(s)	Other names (location-based)	Other names for language	Speakers	Location(s)
Nembe–Akaha cluster	Nembe–Akaha				Brass–Ịjọ		71,500 (1977 Voegelin and Voegelin)	Rivers State, Brass LGA
	Nembe–Akaha	Nimbi		Nembe	Brass (older term not giving way to Nembe), Nempe, Itebu (Cust 1883); (Nembe) Brass (Tepowa 1904); Nembe–Brass (Book of Common Prayer, 1957); Ijo (Nembe) (Bible, 1956); Brass–Nembe–Ijaw (Rowlands, 1960); Nembe–Ịjọ (Alagoa, 1967).		66,600 (1963)	Rivers State, Brass LGA, Nembe, Ọkpọma and Tụwọn (Brass) towns and nearby villages
	Nembe–Akaha	Akasa, Akassaa	Akaha	Akaha			4,913 (1963)	Rivers State, Brass LGA, Opu–Akassa town and nearby hamlets
	Bille		Touma, Opu Bille Boko					Rivers State, Degema LGA; Bille Town and 29 Villages
Inland Ịjọ cluster	Inland Ịjọ							Rivers State, Yenagoa and Brass LGAs
	Inland Ịjọ	Buseni	Biseni	Biseni		Amegi	Community consisting of five sections	Rivers State, Yenagoa LGA, Akpeịdẹ, Egbebiri, Kalama,Tẹịn and Tụbụrụ towns
	Inland Ịjọ	Okordia, Ọkọdi‡	Akịta	Akịta			Community consisting of six sections, six towns	Rivers State, Yenagoa LGA
	Inland Ịjọ		Tugbeni	Tugbeni Kạạmạ			A single town surrounded by Central Delta languages	Rivers State, Brass LGA
	KOIN (Kalaḅarị–Okrika–Ịḅanị–Nkọrọ)		Kalaḅarị	Kalaḅarị	New Calabar		200,000 (1987, UBS)	Rivers State, Degema and Asari–Toru LGAs; 3 major towns and 24 villages
	KOIN (Kalaḅarị–Okrika–Ịḅanị–Nkọrọ)				Okrika		Okrika town	Rivers State, Okrika LGA

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

See also

• List of Proto-Ijaw reconstructions (Wiktionary)

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

• The Ijaw Dictionary Online

Notes and References

1. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
2. generally pronounced in English
3. Book: Williamson, Kay. A Grammar of the Kolokuma Dialect of Ịjọ. 2011-08-11. Cambridge University Press. 9780521175265. en.
4. Book: Dimmendaal, Gerrit Jan. Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages. 2011-01-01. John Benjamins Publishing. 978-9027211781. en.
5. Web site: Ijoid languages Ijoid Languages, Niger-Congo, West Africa Britannica . 2024-01-26 . www.britannica.com . en.
6. Book: Blench, Roger. An Atlas of Nigerian Languages. Kay Williamson Educational Foundation. 2019. 4th. Cambridge.
7. Kouwenberg 1994
8. News: Garba. Kabir Alabi. Izon Fie… Popularising An Indigenous Tongue. The Guardian Nigeria. 2013-06-15. 2013-06-08.