The Tivoid languages are a branch of the

Southern Bantoid languages Southern Bantoid (or South Bantoid) is a branch of the Bantoid language family. It consists of the Bantu languages along with several small branches and isolates of eastern Nigeria and west-central Cameroon (though the affiliation of some branch ...

spoken in parts 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 ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. The subfamily takes its name after Tiv, the most spoken language in the group. The majority are threatened with extinction. The largest of these languages by far is the

Tiv language Tiv is a Tivoid language spoken in some states in North Central Nigeria, with some speakers in Cameroon. It had over 5 million speakers in 2020. The largest population of Tiv speakers are found in Benue state in Nigeria. The language is also wi ...

for which the group is named; it had 2 million speakers in 1991. The second largest is the Bitare language; it had 110,000 speakers in 2000. Most apart from Tiv are extremely poorly known, and the next best, Esimbi, has not even been demonstrated to be Tivoid.

Languages

Following Blench (2010), Tivoid languages fall into three branches, though North Tivoid languages are almost unattested. The names in parentheses are dialects per ''Ethnologue'', separate languages per Blench: ;Central Tivoid: A: Tiv– Iyive– Otank, Evant; Ceve (Oliti) : B: Caka (Batanga, Asaka), Ipulo (Olulu),

Eman Iman, Imann, Imaan, Eman, Emaan, or Imman may refer to: Places * Iman, Iran, a village in Kalashi District, Kermanshah Province * The Iman River, the former name of the Bolshaya Ussurka River, a tributary of the Ussuri River in Russia's Primors ...

(Amanavil) ; Mesaka (Ugarə) ;North Tivoid: Batu (Afi, Kamino), Abon, Bitare, ? Ambo Esimbi is well attested, but there is not much reason to consider it Tivoid; it has just about as much in common with

Grassfields languages The Grassfields languages (or Wide Grassfields languages) are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in the Western High Plateau of Cameroon and some parts of Taraba state, Nigeria. Better known Grassfields languages include the Easte ...

. The status of

Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to ...

within Tivoid is also uncertain.

SIL Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...

lists three additional languages,

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Manta'' Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marvel Comics publications * Manta (''Uridium''), a spaceship in the Br ...

, Balo and Osatu, based on an old, provisional assignment of Blench; Blench (2010) states they are instead in the Southwest Grassfields (Western Momo) family. The

Momo languages The Momo languages are a group of Grassfields languages spoken in the Western High Plateau of Cameroon. The languages are: : Meta' (Moghamo)– Ngamambo, Mundani, Ngie (Mengum), Ngoshie, Ngwo Ngwo is a town located in the south-eastern sta ...

, traditionally classified as Grassfields, may be closer to Tivoid, though that may be an effect of contact.

Menchum Menchum is a department of Northwest Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 4469 km and as of 2005 had a total population of 161,998. The capital of the department lies at Wum. The Menchum River drains this area, flowing we ...

, traditionally classified as Grassfields, may also be a Grassfields language or closer to Tivoid.

Names and locations (Nigeria)

Below is a list of Tivoid language names, populations, and locations (in

only) from Blench (2019).

Notes

References

*Blench, Roger. 2010
The Tivoid Languages
*Blench, Roger. 2016
The Tivoid Languages: overview and comparative word list
{{Niger-Congo branches Southern Bantoid languages

Languages

Names and locations (Nigeria)

See also

Notes

References