The Bendi languages are a small group of languages spoken in
Cross River State
Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...
, southeastern
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
.
Bokyi is one of the Bendi languages having some speakers in
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. Once counted among the
Cross River languages
The Cross River or Delta–Cross languages are a branch of the Benue–Congo language family spoken in south-easternmost Nigeria, with some speakers in south-westernmost Cameroon. The branch was first formulated by Joseph Greenberg; it is one of ...
, they may be a branch of
Southern Bantoid
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 ...
, with observed similarities especially with the
Ekoid languages
The Ekoid languages are a dialect cluster of Southern Bantoid languages spoken principally in southeastern Nigeria and in adjacent regions of Cameroon. They have long been associated with the Bantu languages, without their status being precisely de ...
.
Very little research has been conducted on the Bendi languages, and the modern work that does exist often remains either unpublished or inaccessible.
The group is notable for having one language (
Ubang) that has male and female forms.
Languages
The Obudu-Obanlikwu-Eastern Boki languages are:
:
Alege,
Obanliku
Obanliku is a Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Its headquarter is in the town of Sankwala. Obanliku is made up of ten wards namely: Busi, Basang, Bebi, Bisu, Utanga, Becheve, Bendi 1, Bendi 2, Bishiri North & Bishiri South. Oba ...
,
Bekwarra,
Bete-Bendi,
Bokyi,
Bumaji,
Utugwang,
Ubang,
Ukpe-Bayobiri.
The data is too poorly covered to allow for detailed internal classification of these languages.
Names and locations
Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).
Numerals
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
See also
*
Bendi word lists (Wiktionary)
References
*
External links
ComparaLex database with Bendi word lists
{{Niger-Congo branches