Central Ibibio is the major
dialect cluster
A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...
of the
Cross River branch of
Benue–Congo.
Efik proper has national status in Nigeria and was erroneously made the literary standard of the
Ibibio language, though
Ibibio proper has more native speakers.
Varieties
Efik-Ibibio is a
dialect cluster
A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...
spoken by about 15 million people of
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 ...
and about 5 million people of
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 ...
s of
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, ...
, making it the fifth largest language cluster in Nigeria after
Hausa,
Yoruba, and
Igbo.
The major Efik-Ibibio languages are:
*
Anaang (5.5 million speakers, 2018 estimate)
*
Ibibio (15 million speakers, including L2 speakers, 2018 estimate)
*
Efik
The Efik are an ethnic group located primarily in southern Nigeria, and western Cameroon. Within Nigeria, the Efik can be found in the present-day Cross River State and Akwa Ibom state. The Efik speak the Efik language which is a member of the ...
(3 million speakers, 2018 estimate. Efik also has about 2 million second-language speakers.)
Minor varieties, according to Williamson and Blench, are:
*
Ekit (200,000 speakers), with dialect
Etebi
*
Efai (7,000 speakers)
*
Ibuoro (20,000 speakers), with dialects Ibuoro proper,
Ito
Ito, Itō or Itoh may refer to:
Places
* Ito Island, an island of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
* Ito Airport, an airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Ito District, Wakayama, a district located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japa ...
,
Itu Mbon Uzo and
Nkari
*
Eki (5,000 speakers)
*
Idere (5,000 speakers)
*
Ukwa (100 speakers)
These arguably constitute a single language, though ''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
'' considers them to be separate.
See also
*
Eket
Eket is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The name ''Eket'' or Ekid also refers to the indigenous people of the region who are the Ibibio people of the southern part of Ibibioland and to their dialect which is E ...
*
Nsibidi
*
Ekpe
*
Calabar
Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...
*
Southeastern Nigeria
Igbo land ( Standard ) is a cultural and common linguistic region in southeastern Nigeria which is the indigenous homeland of the Igbo people. Geographically, it is divided into two sections, eastern (the larger of the two) and western. Its popu ...
Notes
References
{{Cross River languages
Languages of Nigeria
Ibibio
Lower Cross River languages