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Kalabari is an
Ijo language The Izon languages (), otherwise known as the Ịjọ languages, 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 (pe ...
of Nigeria spoken in Rivers State and Bayelsa State by the Awome people. Its three dialects are
mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
. The Kalabari dialect (Kalabari proper) is one of the best-documented varieties of Ijo, and as such is frequently used as the prime example of Ijo in linguistic literature. As of 2005, the language, "spoken by 258,000 people, asendangered largely because of the massive relocation that has taken place in the area due to the development of Nigeria's oil industry in the Port Harcourt region." The Kalabari language became the basis of
Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...
, a
Dutch Creole A Dutch creole is a creole language that has been substantially influenced by the Dutch language. Most Dutch-based creoles originated in Dutch colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia, after the 17th century expansion of Dutch maritime powe ...
spoken in Eastern
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
. Kalabari-language words have been proposed for some modern technical terms.


Dialects

Kalabari is spoken south of Port Harcourt. Ibani is spoken southeast of Port Harcourt, in the Bonny local government area and in
Opobo Opobo is a community in Rivers State, in the South South region of Nigeria. The kingdom was founded in 1870 by Jubo Jubogha, popularly known as JaJa, an Igbo man who owned slaves. The native language of Opobo is the Ibani language that is spoken ...
. Kirike is spoken in Port Harcourt and the local government areas of Okrika and Ogu–Bolo.


Writing system


See also

* Defaka word list (Wiktionary)


References


External links


Kalabari - English Dictionary
* * * Languages of Nigeria Ijoid languages Indigenous languages of Rivers State {{ijoid-lang-stub