There are over 525 native languages spoken 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 ...

. The Nigerian

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

is English, the language of former colonial

British Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain a ...

. As reported in 2003, Nigerian Pidgin was spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nigeria. The major native languages, in terms of population, are Hausa (over 80 million when including second-language, or L2, speakers),

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

(over 50 million including L2 speakers), Igbo (over 30 million, including L2 speakers), Efik-Ibibio cluster (over 15 million), Fulfulde (13 million), Kanuri (8 million), Tiv (5 million), Nupe (3 million) and approx. 2 to 3 million each of

Karai-Karai Karai-Karai (Francophonic spelling: Karekare, Kerrikerri, Ajami: كاراي-كاراي) is a language spoken in West Africa, most prominently North eastern Nigeria. The number of speakers of Karai-Karai is estimated between 1,500,000 to 1,800,00 ...

Kupa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and ...

, Kakanda,

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 ...

, Igala, Idoma and Izon. Nigeria's linguistic diversity is a microcosm of much of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

as a whole, and the country contains languages from the three major African language families: Afroasiatic,

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. ...

and Niger–Congo. Nigeria also has several as-yet

unclassified languages An unclassified language is a language whose genetic affiliation to other languages has not been established. Languages can be unclassified for a variety of reasons, mostly due to a lack of reliable data but sometimes due to the confounding inf ...

, such as Centúúm, which may represent a relic of an even greater diversity prior to the spread of the current language families.

Afroasiatic languages

The

Afroasiatic language The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

s of Nigeria is divided into Chadic, Semitic and Berber. Among these category,

Chadic The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, the Central African Republic, and northern Ca ...

languages predominate, with more than 700 languages. Semitic is represented by various dialects of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

spoken in the Northeast and Berber by the Tuareg-speaking communities in the extreme Northwest. The

Hausa language Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast. Hausa is a mem ...

is the best known

language in Nigeria; though there is a paucity of statistics on native speakers in Nigeria, the language is spoken by 24 million people in West Africa and is the second language of 15 million more. Hausa has therefore emerged as ''

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

'' throughout much of West Africa, and the Sahel in particular. The language is spoken primarily amongst Northern Nigerians and is often associated with Islamic culture in Nigeria and West Africa on the whole. Hausa is classified as a West Chadic language of the

grouping, a major subfamily of Afroasiatic. Culturally, the

Hausa people The Hausa (Endonym, autonyms for singular: Bahaushe (male, m), Bahaushiya (female, f); plural: Hausawa and general: Hausa; exonyms: Ausa; Ajami script, Ajami: ) are the largest native ethnic group in Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which ...

became closely integrated with the Fulani following the establishment of the

Sokoto Caliphate The Sokoto Caliphate (), also known as the Fulani Empire or the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the F ...

by the Fulani Uthman dan Fodio in the 19th century. Hausa is the

of several states in Northern Nigeria and the most important dialect is generally regarded as that spoken in Kano, an Eastern Hausa dialect, which is the standard variety used for official purposes. Eastern dialects also include some dialects spoken in

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

and

Bauchi Bauchi (earlier Yakoba) is a city in northeast Nigeria, the Administrative center of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plate ...

; Western Hausa dialects include Sakkwatanchi spoken in Sokoto, Katsinanchi in Katsina Arewanchi in both

Gobir Gobir (Demonym: ''Gobirawa'') was a city-state in what is now Nigeria. Founded by the Hausa in the 11th century, Gobir was one of the seven original kingdoms of Hausaland, and continued under Hausa rule for nearly 700 years. Its capital was the c ...

and

Adar Adar ( he, אֲדָר ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 ...

, Kebbi and

Zamfara Zamfara (Hausa: Jihar Zamfara Fula: Leydi Zamfara 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤶𞤢𞤥𞤬𞤢𞤪𞤢) is a state in northwestern Nigeria. The capital of Zamfara state is Gusau and its current Governor is Bello Matawalle. Until 1996, the area was ...

. Katsina is transitional between Eastern and Western dialects. Northern Hausa dialects include slay:)

Arewa Arewa or Arewaland is a Hausa word which means "The North". The term is used to refer to Northern Nigeria general. The terms ' (literally "north") and ' (literally " Northern Nigeria") are used in Hausa to refer to the historic region geopoliticall ...

and Arawa, whilst

is a prominent Southern version; Barikanchi is a

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

formerly used in the military. Hausa is a very atypical

language, with a reduced tonal system and a phonology influenced by

. Other well-known Chadic languages include Mupun, Ngas, Goemai, Mwaghavul, Bole, Ngizim, Bade and Bachama. In the East of Nigeria and on into Cameroon are the Central Chadic languages such as Bura, Kamwe and Margi. These are highly diverse and remain very poorly described. Many Chadic languages are severely threatened; recent searches by Bernard Caron for Southern Bauchi languages show that even some of those recorded in the 1970s have disappeared. However unknown Chadic languages are still being reported, such as the recent description of Dyarim. Hausa, as well as other Afroasiatic languages such as Kanuri, Margi,

and Bade (another West Chadic language spoken in northeastern Nigeria), have historically been written in a modified

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and th ...

known as '' ajami''. However the modern official orthography is now a romanization known as ''boko'' introduced by the British regime in the 1930s. The major native languages, in terms of population, are Hausa (over 80 million when including second-language, or L2, speakers),

(over 50 million including L2 speakers), Igbo (over 30 million, including L2 speakers) Fulfulde (13 million), Efik-Ibibio cluster (10 million), Kanuri (8 million), Tiv (5 million), Nupe (3 million) and approx. 2 to 3 million each of

, Kakanda,

, Igala, Idoma and Izon. Nigeria's linguistic diversity is a microcosm of much of

as a whole, and the country contains languages from the three major African language families: Afroasiatic,

and Niger–Congo. Nigeria also has several as-yet

, such as Centúúm, which may represent a relic of an even greater diversity prior to the spread of the current language families.

Niger–Congo languages

Niger–Congo predominates in the Central, East and Southern areas of Nigeria; the main branches represented in Nigeria are Mande,

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, Gur, Kwa, Benue–Congo and Adamawa–Ubangi. Mande is represented by the Busa cluster and Kyenga in the northwest. Fulfulde is the single Atlantic language, of

Senegambia The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...

n origin but now spoken by cattle pastoralists across the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...

and largely in the northeastern states of Nigeria, especially Adamawa. The

Ijoid languages Ijoid is a proposed but undemonstrated group of languages linking the Ijaw languages (Ịjọ) with the endangered Defaka language. The similarities, however, may be due to Ijaw influence on Defaka. The Ijoid languages, or perhaps just Ijaw, ar ...

are spoken across the

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 ...

and include Ịjọ (Ijaw), Kalabari, and the intriguing remnant language Defaka. The Efik language is spoken across the coastal southeastern part of Nigeria and includes the dialects Ibibio,

Annang The Anaang (also spelled Annang) are a sub-ethnic group of the larger Ibibio people, whose land is primarily within 8 of the present 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State: Abak, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Ikot Ekpene, Obot Akara, Oruk ...

, and Efik proper. The single Gur language spoken is Baatọnun, in the extreme Northwest. The Adamawa–Ubangian languages are spoken between central Nigeria and the Central African Republic. Their westernmost representatives in Nigeria are the Tula-Waja languages. The Kwa languages are represented by the Gun group in the extreme southwest, which is affiliated to the Gbe languages in Benin and Togo. The classification of the remaining languages is controversial;

Joseph Greenberg Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28, 1915 – May 7, 2001) was an American linguist, known mainly for his work concerning linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages. Life Early life and education Joseph Greenberg was born on ...

classified those without noun-classes, such as Yoruba, Igbo, and Ibibio (Efik, Ibibio, and Annang), as 'Eastern Kwa' and those with classes as ' Benue–Congo'. This was reversed in an influential 1989 publication and reflected on the 1992 map of languages, where all these were considered Benue–Congo. Recent opinion, however, has been to revert to Greenberg's distinction. The literature must thus be read with care and due regard for the date. There are several small language groupings in the Niger Confluence area, notably Ukaan, Akpes, Ayere-Ahan and Ọkọ, whose inclusion in these groupings has never been satisfactorily argued. Former Eastern Kwa, i.e. West Benue–Congo would then include

Igboid Igboid languages constitute a branch of the Volta–Niger language family. The subgroups are: * Ekpeye * Nuclear Igboid: Igbo, Ikwerre, Ika, Ngwa, Izii– Ikwo–Ezza– Mgbo, Ogba and Ukwuani-Aboh-Ndoni Williamson and Blench conclude th ...

, i.e.

Igbo 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 ...

proper,

Ukwuani The Ukwuani people (also called Ndokwa people are a subgroup of the Igbo people located in the southern part of Nigeria in the western part of the Niger Delta and other areas. Origin Their origin is debated, with the narrative being that the ...

, Ikwerre,

Ekpeye Ekpeye people also known as Ekpeye Kingdom (An Igbo sub group) claim to have fled Bini to settle in Rivers State, Niger Delta, Nigeria. However, they speak an igboid language and dialect have no similarity to the aforementioned claim of migrati ...

etc., Yoruboid, i.e.

Itsekiri The Itsekiri (also called the Isekiri, ''iJekri'', ''Itsekri'', ''Ishekiri'', or Itsekhiri) are one of the Yoruboid subgroup of Nigeria's Niger Delta area, Delta State. The Itsekiris presently number 2.7 million people and live mainly in the W ...

and Igala, Akokoid (eight small languages in Ondo, Edo and Kogi state),

Edoid 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 ...

including

(sometimes referred to as) Bini in

Edo State Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controvers ...

Ibibio-Efik Central Ibibio is the major dialect cluster of the Cross River branch of Benue–Congo. Efik proper has national status in Nigeria and is the literary standard of the Efik languages, though Ibibio proper has more native speakers. Varieties ...

, Idomoid ( Idoma) and

Nupoid The Nupoid languages are a branch of Volta–Niger spoken in west-central Nigeria, particularly in southeastern Niger State and northern Kogi State. They include the Nupe and Ebira languages, each with about 4 million speakers. Most Nupoid lang ...

( Nupe) and perhaps include the other languages mentioned above. The

Idoma language Idoma is the second official language spoken in Benue State Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that t ...

is classified in the Akweya subgroup of the Idomoid languages of the Volta–Niger family, which include Alago, Agatu, Etulo and Yala languages of Benue, Nasarawa and Northern Cross River states. East Benue–Congo includes Kainji,

Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

(46 languages, notably Gamai language), Jukunoid, Dakoid and some parts of Cross River. Apart from these, there are numerous

Bantoid languages Bantoid is a major branch of the Benue–Congo language family. It consists of the Northern Bantoid languages and the Southern Bantoid languages, a division which also includes the Bantu languages that constitute the overwhelming majority and to ...

, which are the languages immediately ancestral to Bantu. These include Mambiloid, Ekoid of Cross River State, Bendi, Beboid, Grassfields and

Tivoid languages The Tivoid languages are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in parts of Nigeria and Cameroon. The subfamily takes its name after Tiv, the most spoken language in the group. The majority are threatened with extinction. The larges ...

. Within the Benue-Congo languages, the expansive Bantu language family which covers much of central and southern Africa is represented in Nigeria by; Jarawa with around a quarter million speakers, making it the most spoken Bantu language in the country. Others include Mbula-Bwazza (100,000), Kulung (40,000), Labir (13,000),

Bile Bile (from Latin ''bilis''), or gall, is a dark-green-to-yellowish-brown fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is produced continuously by the liver (liver bi ...

and a few others. The geographic distribution of Nigeria's Niger-Congo languages is not limited to the middle east and south-central Nigeria, as migration allows their spread to the linguistically Afro-Asiatic northern regions of Nigeria, as well as throughout

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

and abroad. Igbo words such as 'unu' for 'you people', 'sooso' for 'only', 'obia' for 'native doctoring', etc. are used in patois of Jamaica and many Central American nations, Yoruba is spoken as a ritual language in cults such as the Santeria in the Caribbean and South-Central America, and the Berbice Dutch language in Surinam is based on an Ijoid language. Even the above listed linguistic diversity of the Niger–Congo in Nigeria is deceptively limiting, as these languages may further consist of regional dialects that may not be mutually intelligible. As such some languages, particularly those with a large number of speakers, have been standardized and received a romanized orthography. Nearly all languages appear in a Latin alphabet when written. The Efik, Igbo, and Yoruba languages are notable examples of this process. The more historically recent standardization and romanization of Igbo have provoked even more controversy due to its dialectical diversity, but the Central Igbo dialect has gained the widest acceptance as the standard-bearer. Many such as Chinua Achebe have dismissed standardization as colonial and conservative attempts to simplify a complex mosaic of languages. Such controversies typify inter- and intra-ethnic conflict endemic to post-colonial Nigeria. Also worthy of note is the Enuani dialect, a variation of the Igbo that is spoken among parts of Anioma. The Anioma are the Aniocha, Ndokwa/Ukwuani, Ika and Oshimilli of Delta state.

Standard Yoruba Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 50 million, plus about 2 million second-languag ...

came into being due to the work Samuel Crowther, the first African bishop of the Anglican Church and owes most of its lexicon to the dialects spoken in Ọyọ and

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its ...

. Since Standard Yoruba's constitution was determined by a single author rather than by a consensual linguistic policy by all speakers, the Standard has been attacked regarding for failing to include other dialects and spurred debate as to what demarcates "genuine Yoruba". Linguistically speaking, all demonstrate the varying phonological features of the Niger–Congo family to which they belong, these include the use of tone, nasality, and particular

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced w ...

and

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...

systems; more information is available

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...

Branches and locations

Below is a list of major Niger–Congo branches and their primary locations based on Blench (2019). In addition,

Ijaw languages The Izon languages (), otherwise known as the Ịjọ languages, are the languages spoken by the Izon people in southern Nigeria. Classification The Ijo languages were traditionally considered a distinct branch of the Niger–Congo family (pe ...

are spoken in

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa ...

, Bayelsa State, and other states of the

region.

Mande languages The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 milli ...

are spoken in

Kebbi State Kebbi state ( ha, Jihar Kebbi; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi state is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state while ...

, Niger State, and

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the interna ...

Nilo-Saharan languages

In Nigeria, the

language family is represented by: * Saharan languages: ** Kanuri and Kanembu in the northeastern part of Nigeria in the states of Borno, Yobe and parts of Jigawa, and Bauchi states ** Teda in northern Nigeria * Songhai languages: ** Zarma (Zabarma) and Dendi in

near the border with the neighbouring countries of Niger and northern Benin. * Central Sudanic languages: ** Lau Laka, a recently discovered

Central Sudanic Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria an ...

language of

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

List of languages

This is a non-exhaustive list of languages in Nigeria.

Notes

Bibliographies

*Crozier, David & Blench, Roger (1992) ''An Index of Nigerian Languages (2nd edition)''. Dallas: SIL.mbembe language in cross river *Blench, Roger (1998) 'The Status of the Languages of Central Nigeria', in Brenzinger, M. (ed.) ''Endangered languages in Africa''. Köln: Köppe Verlag, 187–206
online version
*Blench, Roger (2002
Research on Minority Languages in Nigeria in 2001
''Ogmios''. *Blench, Roger (n.d.
Atlas of Nigerian Languages, ed. III
(revised and amended edition of Crozier & Blench 1992) *Kwache, Iliya Yame (2016) Kamwe People of Northern Nigeria :Origin, History and Culture *Chigudu, Theophilus Tanko (2017); Indigenous peoples of North clCentral Nigeria Area: an endangered race. * *Emenanjo, E. N. (2019). ''Four Decades in the Study of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics: A Festschrift for KayWilliamson.'' *Lamle, Elias Nankap, Coprreality and Dwelling spaces in Tarokland. NBTT Press. Jos Nigeria in "Ngappak" journal of the Tarok Nation 2005

External links

on Muturzikin.com
Ethnologue listing of Nigerian languages
{{Navboxes , title = Articles related to languages of Nigeria , list = {{Africa in topic, Languages of {{English dialects by continent {{English official language clickable map {{West Chadic languages {{Niger-Congo branches