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 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 M ...

; it is one of the few of his branches of Niger–Congo that has withstood the test of time. Greenberg's ''Cross River'' family originally included the Bendi languages''.'' The Bendi languages were soon seen to be very different and thus were made a separate branch of Cross River, while the other languages were united under the branch ''Delta–Cross.'' However, the inclusion of Bendi in Cross River at all is doubtful, and it has been tentatively reassigned to the

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 ...

family, making the terms ''Cross River'' and ''Delta–Cross'' now synonymous.

Demographics

In Nigeria, these languages are 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 ...

Akwa Ibom state Akwa Ibom is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It borders Cross River State to the east, Rivers State and Abia State to the west and north-west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state ...

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenag ...

Ebonyi State Ebonyi () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia Stat ...

and

Benue State Benue is a State in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria. It is popularly referred to as part of the Middle belt. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in List of Nigerian states by population, the 2006 census. ...

. The Ibibio language is also spoken in Abia State.

Languages

There are four primary branches of Cross River: * Central Delta; 8 languages, the most populous being Ogbia with 100,000 speakers * Ogoni; 5 languages, with Ogoni proper ( Khana) having 200,000 speakers * Upper Cross River; 22 languages, the most populous being Lokaa with 120,000 speakers * Lower Cross River; 23 languages, the most populous being Ibibio language (3.5 million speakers)

Branches and locations

Below is a list of major Cross River branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) in southeast Nigeria and southwest Cameroon based on Blench (2019).

Internal classification

Roger Blench Roger Marsh Blench (born August 1, 1953) is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is based in Cambridge, England. He researches, publishes, and work ...

(2008: 4)Blench, Roger. 2008.
The Ogoni languages: comparative word list and historical reconstructions
'. classifies the Cross River languages as follows. *Cross River **? Bendi (Yakoro, Bendi, Alege, Bumaji, Bokyi, etc.) **Delta-Cross *** Upper Cross ****Core *****North-South (Koring, Kukele, Kohumono, Agwagwune, etc.) *****East-West (Ikom, Mbembe, Legbo, etc.) ****Ukpet-Ehom ****Agoi, Doko, Iyongiyong ****Kiong, Korop *** Lower Cross ****East (Efik, Ibibio, Anaang, Efiat, etc.) ****Central (Enwang, Uda) ****West (Ebughu, Oro, Usakade, Obolo, etc.) *** Ogoni ****Eleme; Baan (Ogoi) ****Gokana; Tẹẹ (Tai); Kana *** Central Delta ****Abuan, Odual ****Kugbo, Ogbia, etc. Although Blench (2004) tentatively included the Bendi languages as possibly being a Cross River outlier branch, the Bendi languages are generally classified as

References

Bibliography

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External links

ComparaLex
database with Cross River word lists
Journal of West African Languages: Cross River Languages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross River Languages Benue–Congo languages