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 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,
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, traditionally classified as
Grassfields, may be closer to Tivoid, though that may be an effect of contact.
, 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
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 ...
only) from Blench (2019).
See also
*
Tivoid word lists (Wiktionary)
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