Central Ibibio is the major
dialect cluster of the
Cross River branch of
Benue–Congo.
Efik proper has national status in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and is the literary standard of the
Efik language
Efik (''Usem Efịk'') is the indigenous language of the Efik people, who are situated in the present-day Cross River state and Akwa Ibom state of Nigeria, as well as in the North-West of Cameroon. The Efik language is mutually intelligible with ...
s, though
Ibibio proper has more native speakers.
Varieties
Efik-Ibibio is a
dialect cluster spoken by about 10 million people of
Akwa Ibom State
Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Iboe ...
and
Cross River State
)
, image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria
, coordinates =
, coor_pinpoint ...
s of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, making it the sixth largest language cluster in Nigeria after
Hausa
Hausa may refer to:
* Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa
* Hausa language, spoken in West Africa
* Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states
* Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse
See also
...
,
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
,
Igbo
Igbo may refer to:
* Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria
* Igbo language, their language
* anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria
See also
* Ibo (disambiguation)
* Igbo mythology
* Igbo music
* Igbo art
*
* Igbo-Ukwu, a ...
,
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
and
Kanuri.
The major Efik-Ibibio languages are:
*
Anaang (5 million speakers, 2018 estimate)
*
Ibibio Ibibio may refer to:
* Ibibio language
* Ibibio people
* Ibibio Sound Machine, an English electronic afro-funk band who sing in Ibibio
See also
* Ibiblio
ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections" ...
(10 million speakers, including L2 speakers, 2018 estimate)
*
Efik (3 million speakers, 2018 estimate. Efik also has about 2 million second-language speakers.)
Minor varieties, according to Williamson and Blench, are:
*
Ekit (200,000 speakers), with dialect
Etebi
*
Efai (7,000 speakers)
*
Ibuoro (20,000 speakers), with dialects Ibuoro proper,
Ito
Ito may refer to:
Places
* Ito Island, an island of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
* Ito Airport, an airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Ito District, Wakayama, a district located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
* Itō, Shizuo ...
,
Itu Mbon Uzo and
Nkari
Ibuoro is an Ibibio-Efik language of Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated ...
*
Eki (5,000 speakers)
*
Idere (5,000 speakers)
*
Ukwa (100 speakers)
These arguably constitute a single language, though ''
Ethnologue'' considers them to be separate.
See also
*
Eket
Eket is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The name ''Eket'' or Ekid also refers to the indigenous ethnic group of the region and to their language. The Eket people use the endonym ''Ekid'' for themselves and their l ...
*
Nsibidi
Nsibidi (also known as nsibiri, nchibiddi or nchibiddy) is a system of symbols or proto-writing developed in what is now the far South of Nigeria.
They are classified as pictograms, though there have been suggestions that some are logograms or sy ...
*
Ekpe
Ekpe, also known as Mgbe/Egbo (Ekoi language: ''leopard''; derived from the Ibibio term for the same), is a West African secret society in Nigeria and Cameroon flourishing chiefly among the Efiks. It is also found among a number of other ethn ...
*
Calabar
Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and c ...
*
Southeastern Nigeria
Igboland ( Standard ), also known as Southeastern Nigeria (but extends into South-Southern Nigeria), is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people.
It is a cultural and common linguistic region in southern Nigeria. Geographically, it is divided ...
Notes
References
{{Cross River languages
Languages of Nigeria
Ibibio
Lower Cross River languages