Edoid languages

The Edoid languages are a few dozen languages spoken in southern Nigeria. Edoid-speaking ethnic groups are predominantly located in the States of Edo and Delta however, smaller Edoid-speaking communities are also present in the states of Ondo, Bayelsa, and Rivers. The term "Edoid" for the language group derives from its most widely spoken member, Edo, which is natively spoken in Southern Edo. Edoid languages collectively have approximately 10 million primary and secondary speakers.

Classification

Elugbe (1989)

The following classification is based on that of Elugbe (1989).

Edoid
- Delta: Degema, Epie, Ẹgẹnẹ (Engenni)
- North-Central
  - Edo: Edo (Bini), Ivbiosakon (Ora, Emai, Iuleha), Esan (Ishan)
  - Yekhee: Ghotuo, Yekhee, Enwan, Igwe, Ikpeshi, Okpela (Ivbie North, Arhe), Ososo, Sasaru, Uneme
  - ?Ihievbe
- Northwestern:
  - Osse River: Ehuẹun–Ukue, Iyayu–Uhami
  - Southern Northwestern: Okpamheri, Akuku, Okpe, Oloma
  - ?Aduge
- Southwestern: Isoko, Urhobo, Eruwa, Okpe, Uvbie

Ihievbe and Aduge are unclassified within their branches.

Lewis (2013)

An alternative classification of the Edoid languages by Lewis (2013:160):

Proto-Edoid
- North-Western
  - Okpella, North Ibie
  - Atte, Enwa, Ikpeshi
  - Ibilo, Dagbala, Aiyegunle, Somorika
  - Akuku
  - Okpe
- North-Central
  - Ghotuo, Sasaru, Igwe, Ososo
  - Eese,Ihievbe, Uneme-Yekhee, Uokha-Uroe-Ake-Warake, Ikhin-Arokho, Esan, Bini
- South-Western
- Delta
  - Eipe-Atisa
  - Egene (Engenni)
  - Degema

Lewis's study is an improvement on Elugbe's classification, as more languages were identified and classified. However, omitted the Uvbie of the South-Western Edoid branch (cf. Emoefe et al. (2017).)

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 vowels 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, /m, n, ɲ/, and has five oral consonants with nasal allophones, /ɺ, l, ʋ, j, w/; in Edo this is reduced to one phonemic nasal, /m/, but eight additional consonants with nasal allophones, /p, b, t, d, k, ɡ, kp, ɡb/; and in Ukue there are no indisputably phonemic nasals and only two consonants with nasal allophones, /l, β/.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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.

This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license.