| Tiv | |
| Nativename: | Tiv |
| States: | Nigeria |
| Region: | Benue State, Cross River State, Plateau State, Taraba State |
| Ethnicity: | Tiv |
| Speakers: | million |
| Date: | 2024 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam2: | Atlantic–Congo |
| Fam3: | Volta-Congo |
| Fam4: | Benue–Congo |
| Fam5: | Bantoid |
| Fam6: | Southern Bantoid |
| Fam7: | Tivoid |
| Fam8: | Central Tivoida |
| Iso2: | tiv |
| Iso3: | tiv |
| Glotto: | tivv1240 |
| Glottorefname: | Tiv |
Tiv is a Tivoid language spoken in some states in North Central Nigeria, with some speakers in Cameroon. It had over 5.2 million speakers in 2024. The largest population of Tiv speakers are found in Benue state in Nigeria. The language is also widely spoken in some Nigerian states namely, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa, Cross River, Adamawa, Kaduna, and Abuja. It is by far the largest of the Tivoid languages, a group of languages belonging to the Southern Bantoid languages.
The first reference to the Tiv language (dzwa Tiv) was made by Sigismund Koelle (1854) from liberated slaves from Sierra Leone. Johnston Harry H[2] (1919) classified it as a peculiar language among the Semi-Bantu languages, and Talbot P. Amaury (1926) concurred. Roy Clive Abraham[3] [4] (1933), who has made the most complete linguistic study of Tiv, classifies it as Bantu, stating that its vocabulary is more similar to the East African Nyanza group of Bantu languages than to Ekoi or other neighbouring languages. Malherbe (1933) agrees with Abraham that Tiv is essentially Bantu.[5]
All material on Tiv seems to point to a recent expansion, perhaps in the early 15th century.[6]
Tiv is widely spoken in the States of Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, Cross Rivers, Adamawa, Kaduna, and Abuja, Nigeria. Other parts of Nigeria also speak Tiv.
Tarkaa, Makurdi, Gwer East, Gwer West, Ukum, Logo, Konshisha, Gboko, Kwande, Vandeikya, Katsina Ala, Guma, Buruku, and Ushongo Local Government Areas.
Doma, Nasarawa, Lafia, Obi, Keana, and Awe Local Government Areas
Tiv-speaking populations are found in Langtang South, Shendam, Qua’an-Pan and Wase area councils.
Bali, Donga, Ibi, Gassol, Takum, Gashaka, Kurmi and Wukari Local Government Areas.
Together with thousands of other Tivoid groups like the Batu, Abon, Bitare and Ambo in Sardauna Local government area.
Yala, Bekwarra, Obudu and Obanliku Local Government Areas.
Together with thousands of other tivoid groups like the Utanga, Ceve or Becheve, Evant, Eman etc.
There are 1900 Tiv households with approximately 20,000 people at the south-western border of Cameroon Manyu division, with Mamfe as its capital, which is 74km away from the south eastern Nigerian border. The paramount ruler is Zaki Abaajul, who has the Tiv and Ulitsi as his subjects. The Cameronian Tiv are well educated and live in Anglophone Cameroon[7] as their ancestral land, while a few others live in the francophone region. They are mostly farmers but others work in the government.[8]
Although some Nigerian tiv people are unaware of some of the Tiv peoples of the Cameroon because of the international border but, these groups always regard themselves as Tiv. Some of them have an additional dialect to the main Tiv language. These Tiv groups are; Bitare, Mesaka, Iyive, Ceve or Becheve, Evant, Eman, Ipulo, Caka etc. They together with the Tiv in Nigeria share the same culture, History, Religion, and Tradition. They are basically the same people.
Tiv speakers can understand each other across their territory. Although, the Hyarev people speak some words totally different from others. However, accents (ham) exist.[9]
| Close | pronounced as /i/ | pronounced as /u/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Near-close | pronounced as /ɪː/ | pronounced as /ʊː/ | ||
| Mid | pronounced as /e/ | pronounced as /oː/ | ||
| Open-mid | pronounced as /ɜː/ | pronounced as /ɔ/, pronounced as /ɔː/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /a/, pronounced as /aː/ | pronounced as /ɒ/ |
| Bilabial | Labio- dental | Alveolar | Palato- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | pal. | |||||||||
| Stop | voiceless | pronounced as /p/ | pronounced as /t/ | pronounced as /k/ | pronounced as /kʷ/ | pronounced as /kʲ/ | |||||
| voiced | pronounced as /b/ | pronounced as /d/ | pronounced as /ɡ/ | pronounced as /ɡʷ/ | pronounced as /ɡʲ/ | ||||||
| prenasal | pronounced as /ᵐb/ | pronounced as /ⁿd/ | |||||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /t͡s/ | pronounced as /t͡ʃ/ | pronounced as /k͡p/ | |||||||
| voiced | (pronounced as /d͡z/) | pronounced as /d͡ʒ/ | pronounced as /ɡ͡b/ | ||||||||
| prenasal | pronounced as /ⁿd͡z/ | ||||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /f/ | pronounced as /s/ | pronounced as /ʃ/ | (pronounced as /x/) | pronounced as /h/ | |||||
| voiced | pronounced as /v/ | pronounced as /z/ | pronounced as /ɣ/ | ||||||||
| Nasal | pronounced as /m/ | (pronounced as /ɱ/) | pronounced as /n/ | pronounced as /ɲ/ | pronounced as /ŋ/ | ||||||
| Trill | pronounced as /r/ | ||||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /w/ | pronounced as /l/ | pronounced as /j/ | ||||||||
Tiv has three main tones (five if rising and falling are counted as separate tones instead of composites of existing tones).[12] They are most importantly used in inflection.
The accents of Tiv are as follows:
Vocabulary, particularly plant and tool names, changes from one part of Tiv territory to the other.[13]
Tiv has nine noun classes.