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Isoko is an Edoid language, one of the languages in Delta State spoken by the
Isoko people Isoko people are an ethnolinguistic group who inhabit the Isoko region of Delta State and Bayelsa State, Nigeria. They are people of southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger delta. Delta State and Bayelsa State are part of the 36 stat ...
in Isoko South, North and part of Ndokwa East Local Government Areas of Delta State, Southern part of Nigeria in
Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
. It is also spoken in some part of Bayelsa. The Isoko language has close similarities between them and
Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or " estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital ...
people with other Edoid language because it is an Edoid language,the Isoko people are “an ethnic nationality made up of people and their ancestral roots can be traced through history to the
Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Republic of Dahomey, Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burki ...
(Aka) kingdom, attested to by the
linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and cultural similarities that exist between the Isoko people and the Benin (Aka)people” although a few of the Isoko communities or clans have their origins attached to the Ibo language and Urhobo language. Some 750,000 people consider themselves Isoko. Language is a mark of identity and plays an all-important role in the life of a people. The Isoko language however, is being threatened with extinction as reported by Idudhe (2002), as a result of neglect in teaching, learning and use. The Isoko language has about 20 to 21 dialects, but the Aviara/Uzere dialect is the standard dialect of the language. Michael A. Marioghae, working with Peter Ladefoged in 1962, made one of a few audio recordings of sample Isoko words that are made available at the
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californi ...
phonetics archive.


Phonology

Alphabet A B D E Ẹ F G H I J K L M N O Ọ P R S T U V W Y Z The Vowels A E Ẹ I O Ọ U The Consonants B D F G H J K L M N P R S T V W Y Z Digraphs GB, GH, KP, HW, WH, TH, SH, NW, NY, CH


Some greetings in Isoko Language


References


External links


Audio recordings available in ISOKO

Voiced labiodental fricatives or glides - all the same to Germans?
Edoid languages {{Nigeria-stub