Ulukwumi, also known as Olùkùmi, is a
Yoruboid
Yoruboid is a 'megagroup' of 14 related language clades, composed of the Igala group of dialects spoken in south central Nigeria, and the Edekiri group spoken in a band across Togo, Ghana, Benin and southern Nigeria, including the Itsekiri of W ...
language spoken by the
Olukumi people of
Aniocha North LGA,
Delta State, Nigeria.
''Olùkùmi'' means 'my friend' in the Owé dialect of Yoruba and Igala. The Olukwumi are an
Igbo people with Yoruba and Igala heritage. Dialects are Ugbodu and Ukwunzu, with Ukwunzu being more heavily influenced by Igbo than Ugbodu is.
Vocabulary
Below are some Olùkùmi words compared with the other
Yoruboid languages
Yoruboid is a 'megagroup' of 14 related language clades, composed of the Igala group of dialects spoken in south central Nigeria, and the Edekiri group spoken in a band across Togo, Ghana, Benin and southern Nigeria, including the Itsekiri of W ...
Yorùbá (standard dialect), Òwé (a Yoruba dialect spoken in Kabba district of
Kabba-Bunu 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 t ...
), and Igala, as given by Arokoyo (2012):
[Arokoyo, Bolanle Elizabeth. 2012. ''A Comparative Phonology of the Olùkùmi, Igala, Owe and Yoruba Languages''. Paper presented for the International Congress "Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction", Paris, 18-21 September, 2012. 10pp.]
References
*Arokoyo et al. 2022. Olùkùmi Living Dictionary. Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. https://livingdictionaries.app/olukumi/entries/list
*Eleshin, Alimot Folake. 2012. ''A comparative study of the morphosyntax of Olukumi and Standard Yorùbá: a minimalist approach''. MA thesis, University of Ilorin.
*Okolo-Obi, Bosco. 2014. ''Aspects of Olukumi Phonology''. MA thesis, Nsukka: University of Nigeria; 117pp.
*Obisesan, H. 2012. ''Lexical Comparison Of Olukumi, Owo Dialect And Standard Yoruba''. Seminar paper presented to the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Ilorin.
Yoruboid languages
Languages of Nigeria
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