Oworo (Aworo) is a dialect of

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 ...

spoken mainly in Oworo District of Lokoja LGA,

Kogi State Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the s ...

Nigeria. It is close to the Abinu (Bunu), Ikiri, Owe, Yagba and Ijumu dialects which are together known as ''Okun''."The History of Okun Yoruba: Research Direction"
Yorùbá Identity and Power Politics, Editors: Toyin Falola, Ann Genova, Volume: 22, Publishers: Boydell & Brewer, University of Rochester Press (February 2006) Page 111-126 The Okun dialects are mutually intelligible. There appears to be an obvious and strict rule of change from in Yoruba and other Okun dialects to in Oworo. Similar changes occur with several other vowels and consonants with lesser strictness. For example, the words ''funfun'','' ìfẹ́'' and ''òsì'' meaning white, love and left are rendered ''hunhun'', ''ìhẹ́'' and ''òhì'' in Oworo respectively. Due to the geographical location of the

Oworo people The Ọwọrọ ethnic nationality represents a group of people around the Niger-Benue confluence speaking a Yoruba dialect called Oworo. They are generally classified as part of Northeast Yoruba (NEY) of the Yoruba people.Bayo Ijagbemi "O-OKUN Y ...

, Oworo dialect has been influenced by

Nupe Nupe may refer to: *Nupe people, of Nigeria *Nupe language, their language *The Bida Emirate, also known as the Nupe Kingdom, their former state *A member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African Amer ...

, Igala,

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 * ...

and other neighboring languages. The influence of Nupe seems to be greatest and this may be due to the 19th century Nupe wars.

References

External links

Georgina OM, Adebola AI
"An Optimality Analysis of Oworo Vowel Harmony"
Retrieved 14 October 2015 {{Languages of Nigeria Languages of Nigeria Yoruba language