Izon (Ịzọn), also known as (Central–Western) Ijo, Ijaw, Izo and Uzo, is the dominant Ijaw language, spoken by a majority of the

Ijaw people The Izon people or Izon Otu, otherwise known as the Ijaw people due to the historic mispronunciation of the name ''Izon'', are an ethnic group majorly found in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, with significant population clusters in Bayelsa, in Delta ...

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 ...

. There are about thirty dialects, all mutually intelligible, of which the are Gbanran, Ekpetiama and Kolokuma etc. Kolokuma is the language of education. In June 2013, the ''Izon Fie'' instructional book and audio CDs were launched at a ceremony attended by officials of the government of

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yena ...

. The government of Bayelsa State official employed 30 teachers to teach the Izon language in primary schools in the state in other to save the language from extinction.

General information and history

While there are approximately 1,700,000 speakers of all Ijo languages in Nigeria, it is believed that there are only a little over 1,000,000 Izon speakers. The language is currently classified as "at risk", with a 20% certainty based on the evidence available. Izon is recognized as having been present in the region several

millennia A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

before the 15th century when the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

arrived at the Nigerian

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

. At present, linguists approximate that the language became established in the Niger Delta region as many as seven to eight thousand years ago. The Ijo people did not call the Niger Delta region home for all of history; in fact, it is known that there have been

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

movements from far-away places/from the edges of the Niger Delta. Because of this, Izon is closely related to a variety of other languages from surrounding areas, beyond the confines of

towards the sources of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

near West Africa. Linguists have traced the

pre-history Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

of Izon far back and collectively refer to its roots as proto-ijo, the language from which all existing Ijo

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

s came into existence.

Dialects

An Izon dialect classification from Blench (2019) is given as: ;Ịzọn * West: Arogbo, Fụrụpagha, W. Olodiama, Egbema, Gbaramatu, Ogulagha, Iduwini * Central ** North *** Northeast: Gbanraịn, Kolokuma, Ekpetiama *** Northwest: Ikibiri, Ogboin, W. Tarakiri, Kabo, Kumbo, Mein, Tuomọ, Sembiri, Operemọ, Ọbọtẹbẹ, Ogbe Ịjọ ** South *** Southwest: Apọị, Koluama, Basan, E. Olodiama *** Southeast: Oiyakiri, Oporomọ, Ḅụmọ

Preservation efforts

In recent efforts to prevent the Izon language from extinction, the Bayelsa State Government has taken great preservation measures. They have employed over thirty teachers to teach the Izon language in local schools within the state. The Commissioner for Culture and Ijaw National Affairs, Dr. Felix Tuodolo fears that because families are now teaching their children Pidgin-English, as opposed to Izon, that the language is now at critical risk for extinction. As a means of furthering the government's dedication to preserving the cultural language, a number of books have been written in Izon dialects to assist in this process.

Phonology

Consonants

* A voiced

velar Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum). Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive a ...

fricative �occurs as an extra phoneme among speakers of different dialects. However, it does not exist in most dialects. * A glottal is only existent in interjections, not as a phoneme. * /s, z/ are in free variation with postalveolar sounds �, d͡ʒin loanwords borrowed from English.

Vowels

Syntax

* The Izon language does not make singular-plural distinctions in verbs, as opposed to what is done in English. Therefore, regardless of whether or not the subject is singular or plural, the same form of the verb is used. Such a system is evident in the following examples: In each of the four Izon sentences above, the same form of the verb "sei" (dance) is used, even when the plurality of the subject changes. * Another interesting aspect of Izon Syntax is its Demonstrative Agreement. A variety of demonstratives are used in Izon to indicate the gender of the nouns that coincide with them. The demonstratives "bei" (this) and "u bei" (that) are used with singular-masculine nouns, for instance: :''bei ki.mi. bei'' (this man) ''bei owu bei'' (this masquerade) :''u bei ki.mi. bei'' (that man) ''u bei owu bei'' (that masquerade) The demonstrative "ma" (this) and "u ma" (that) coincide with singular feminine nouns as follows: :''ma iyo. ro. arau. ma'' (this woman) ''u ma iyo. ro. arau. ma'' (that woman) :''ma ere ma'' (this wife) ''u ma ere ma'' (that wife) In addition, "mi" (this) and "u mi" (that) are used with singular neuter nouns, for example: :''mi ololo mi'' (this bottle) ''u mi ololo mi'' (that bottle) :''mi bira mi'' (this hand) ''u mi bira mi'' (that hand) When there is a plural noun present, the demonstrative "ma" (these) and "u ma" (those) are used, regardless of the gender of the noun. This can be seen in the following: :''ma ere abu ma'' (these wives) ''u ma ere abu ma'' (those wives) : (these rooms) (those rooms) :''ma akimi ma'' (these men) ''u ma akimi ma'' (those men)

Additional linguistic information

Izon can be considered distinct from many other related languages in the region, in the sense that it follows a SOV (subject-object-verb) format, both in simple and complex sentences. Additionally, directional and locative phrases also precede the main verb. Tense marking takes the form of a suffix on the final verb. Location markers and other preposition-like articles are suffixed to the nouns that they relate to. Possessor typically precedes possessed and adjectives precede the nouns they modify.

Sample vocabulary list

Bibliography

*Agheyisi, R. N. (1984). Minor languages in the Nigerian context: Prospects and Problems. 35(3) *Okunrinmeta, U. (2011). Izon Syntax and the English of Izon-English Bilinguals. World Englishes, 30(2), 211-228 *Okunrinmeta, U. (2013). Singular-Plural Distinction in Izon and Its Influence on the Teaching/Learning of Plural Formation in English. Journal of Education and Learning, 2(2), 126-138. *Smith, N. S., Robertson, I. E., & Williamson, K. (1987). The Ịjọ Element in Berbice Dutch. Language in Society, 16(01), 49-89 *Williamson, Kay, and A. O. Timitimi (edd.). 1983. ''Short Ịzọn–English dictionary.'' (Delta Series No. 3) Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press. *Williamson, Kay. 1965 (2nd ed. 1969). A grammar of the Kolokuma dialect of Ịjọ. (West African Language Monographs, 2.) London: C.U.P. *Williamson, Kay. 1975. Metre in Ịzọn funeral dirges. Ọ̀dụ̀má 2:2.21–33. *Williamson, Kay. 1991. "The tense system of Ịzọn." In: ''The tense systems of Nigerian languages and English''. Edited by Okon E. Essien. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere (AAP) 27.145–167. *Williamson, Kay. 2004. "The language situation in the Niger Delta." Chapter 2 in: ''The development of Ịzọn language'', edited by Martha L. Akpana, 9–13.

External links

* http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/7934 * http://archive.phonetics.ucla.edu/Language/IJC/ijc_word-list_1984_04.html * https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7HL15LP5QbTN0lFNjl4bFFaWGM/view