The Edoid languages are a few dozen languages spoken in Southern

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 ...

, predominantly in the former

Bendel State The Mid-Western Region was a division of Nigeria from 1963 to 1991, from 1976 being known as the Bendel state. It was formed in June 1963 from Benin and Delta provinces of the Western Region, and its capital was Benin City. It was renamed a pro ...

. The name ''Edoid'' derives from its most widely spoken member,

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 of ...

, the language of

Benin City Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of 2022. It is situated ap ...

, which has 25 million native and secondary speakers.

Classification

Elugbe (1989)

The following classification is based on that of Elugbe (1989). * Delta: Degema, Epie, Ẹgẹnẹ (Engenni) * North-Central ** Edo:

(Bini), Ivbiosakon (Ora, Emai, Iuleha), Esan (Ishan) ** Yekhee: Ghotuo, Yekhee, Enwan,

Igwe Igwe (meaning ''"Sky"''), is a royal title or method of addressing traditional rulers that control autonomous communities in Igboland. In other words, Igbos approximate the term to the HRH style. An Igwe is therefore defined as a holder of a titl ...

, Ikpeshi, Okpela (Ivbie North, Arhe), Ososo, Sasaru, Uneme ** ?

Ihievbe Ihievbe (also spelled Sebe or Isebe) is a town in Owan East local government area of Edo State, Nigeria, Africa with a population of approximately 50,000 people. Geographically, it is between Auchi Auchi is a city in Edo State, Nigeria. Auchi ...

* Northwestern: ** Osse River: Ehuẹun– Ukue, Iyayu– Uhami ** Southern Northwestern: Okpamheri, Akuku, Okpe,

Oloma Oloma is an Edoid language 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 ...

** ? Aduge * Southwestern: Isoko, Urhobo,

Eruwa Eruwa ( or fully () meaning 'pieces of yam are available here' is a town and the headquarters of Ibarapa East Local Government Area in south-western Nigeria located in Oyo state. Eruwa is 72 km south west of Ibadan and 60 km north e ...

, Okpe, Uvbie Ihievbe and Aduge are unclassified within their branches.

Lewis (2013)

An alternative classification of the Edoid languages by Lewis (2013:160):Lewis, Ademola Anthony. 2013. ''North Edoid relations and roots''. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ibadan. *North-Central ** Ghotuo, Sasaru,

, Ososo ** Eese-

, Uneme- Yekhee,

Uokha Uokha lies on the latitude 7 07’N and longitude 6 04’E in a deciduous derived rainforest zone of Edo State. The climate is sub humid tropical with an average annual rainfall of about 1967mm. Uokha is a town in Owan East, a local government a ...

- Uroe-

Ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The n ...

- Warake, Ikhin- Arokho, Esan, Bini *North-Western **

Okpella Okpella is a clan situated along Benin- Abuja federal high way. Going by the last National Census figures, it has the population of 500,000, and is one of the three main towns that make up Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State. Okpella i ...

, North Ibie ** Atte, Enwa, Ikpeshi ** Ibilo, Dagbala, Aiyegunle,

Somorika Somorika (formerly known as Wavo) is a town located about five kilometres North-East of Igarra in the Akoko Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Description The town speaks Okpameri Language. The town is divided into three quarters w ...

** Akuku ** Okpe *South-Western ** Okpe ** Urhobo ** Isoko **

*Delta ** Eipe-Atisa ** Egene (Engenni) ** Degema

Names and locations

Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary for some northern Edoid languages from Lewis (2013):

Phonology

Proto-Edoid is reconstructed as having a contrast between oral and nasal consonants and oral and

nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced with ...

s typical for the region. However, in some Edoid languages nasal vowels have been reanalyzed as allophones of oral vowels after nasal consonants, and in others nasal consonants have been reanalyzed as allophones of oral consonants before nasal vowels, reducing the number of phonemically nasal consonants. Urhobo retains three nasals, , and has five oral consonants with nasal allophones, ; in

this is reduced to one phonemic nasal, , but eight additional consonants with nasal allophones, ; and in Ukue there are no indisputably phonemic nasals and only two consonants with nasal allophones, .

Footnotes

References

*Frank Kügler, Caroline Féry, Ruben Van De Vijver (2009) ''Variation and Gradience in Phonetics and Phonology'' *Elugbe, Ben Ohiọmamhẹ. 1989a. "Edoid". In Bendor-Samuel (Ed.), ''The Niger–Congo Languages''. Lanham: The United Press of America. 291-304. *Elugbe, Ben Ohiọmamhẹ. 1989b. ''Comparative Edoid: phonology and lexicon''. Delta Series No. 6. Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press. *Blench, Roger
Delta Edoid wordlists
{{Niger-Congo branches Volta–Niger languages