Isoko is an

Edoid language The Edoid languages are a few dozen languages spoken in Southern Nigeria, predominantly in the former Bendel State. The name ''Edoid'' derives from its most widely spoken member, Edo, the language of Benin City, which has 25 million native and se ...

, one of the languages in Delta State spoken by the Isoko people in Isoko South, North and part of Ndokwa East Local Government Areas of Delta State, Southern part of Nigeria in

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. It is also spoken in some part of

Bayelsa 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. Y ...

. The Isoko language has close similarities between them and

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 ...

people with other Edoid language because it is an Edoid language,the Isoko people are “an ethnic nationality made up of people and their ancestral roots can be traced through history to the

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

(Aka) kingdom, attested to by the

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and cultural similarities that exist between the Isoko people and the Benin (Aka)people” although a few of the Isoko communities or clans have their

origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * Origin (comics), ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * The Origin (Buffy comic), ''The Origin'' (Bu ...

s attached to the

Ibo language Igbo ( , ; Igbo: ''Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò'' ) is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, a meta-ethnicity from Southeastern Nigeria. The number of Igboid languages depends on how one classifies a language versus a dialect, so ...

and

Urhobo language Urhobo is a South-Western Edoid language spoken by the Urhobo people of southern Nigeria. From the region of Delta and Bayelsa State. They are also known as fishermen. Their neighbours are the Isoko to the South East, the Itsekiri to the West, ...

. Some 750,000 people consider themselves Isoko. Language is a mark of identity and plays an all-important role in the life of a people. The Isoko language however, is being threatened with extinction as reported by Idudhe (2002), as a result of neglect in teaching, learning and use. The Isoko language has about 20 to 21 dialects, but the Aviara/Uzere dialect is the standard dialect of the language. Michael A. Marioghae, working with

Peter Ladefoged Peter Nielsen Ladefoged ( , ; 17 September 1925 – 24 January 2006) was a British linguist and phonetician. He was Professor of Phonetics at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he taught from 1962 to 1991. His book '' A Cour ...

in 1962, made one of a few audio recordings of sample Isoko words that are made available at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

phonetics archive.

Phonology

Alphabet A B D E Ẹ F G H I J K L M N O Ọ P R S T U V W Y Z The Vowels A E Ẹ I O Ọ U The Consonants B D F G H J K L M N P R S T V W Y Z Digraphs GB, GH, KP, HW, WH, TH, SH, NW, NY, CH

Some greetings in Isoko Language

References

External links

Audio recordings available in ISOKO

Voiced labiodental fricatives or glides - all the same to Germans?
Edoid languages {{Nigeria-stub