There are over 520 native languages spoken in

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, ...

. The

official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

is English, which was the language of

Colonial Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1st of October 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. Britain Lagos Treaty of Cession, annexed Lagos Colony, Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River ...

. The English-based creole ''

Nigerian Pidgin Nigerian Pidgin, also known simply as Pidgin or as Naijá in scholarship, is an English-based creole language spoken as a ''lingua franca'' across Nigeria. The language is sometimes referred to as ''Pijin'' or ''Vernacular''. Coming into existe ...

'' – first used by the British and African slavers to facilitate the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

in the late 17th century – is the most common

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

, spoken by over 60 million people. The most commonly spoken native languages are Hausa (over 63 million when including second-language, or L2, speakers), Yoruba (over 47 million, including L2 speakers), Igbo (over 31 million, including L2 speakers), Ibibio (over 10 million, including L2 speakers), Ijaw cluster (over 5 million), Fulfulde (18 million), Kanuri (7.6 million), Tiv (5 million), and approximately 2 to 3 million each of Nupe, Karai-Karai

Kupa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from in Roman Empire, Roman times; ) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with a length of serving as the border between Croati ...

, Kakanda, Edo, Igala, Mafa, Idoma and

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 ...

. 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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

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 around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...

and Niger-Congo. Nigeria also has several as-yet unclassified languages, such as Centúúm, which may represent a relic of an even greater diversity before the spread of the current language families.

English and Pidgin

English is the single most widely spoken language in Nigeria, spoken by 60 million of the population. It is the main lingua franca of the country and there are a growing number of sole English speakers due to rapid

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

and

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

. English remains the official language and is the major language of communication in government, business and education. Furthermore, the national anthem, constitution and pledge are written in English. Almost all mass media transmit information in English. English became the official language when Nigeria was created from diverse national groups by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Despite decolonization, Nigeria chose to make English the official language to promote national cultural unity and so not to favour any particular native language. Despite its status, English is not widely spoken in rural areas. Many Nigerians struggle with English, evidenced by the 60 percent fail rate of the WASSCE in English (May/June 2015), an important exam certificate. Nevertheless, many Nigerians hold negative social attitudes towards the country's native languages, combining to lead to the neglect of Nigeria's many native languages. As such, there are fears from prominent linguists that Nigerian native languages are

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

and face eventual extinction. Pidgin, first used by British and African slavers to facilitate the

in the late 17th century, has replaced the native language for many Nigerians. Many Nigerians speak

, a

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...

based on English, which is a popular social and cultural language. It has become popular in the mass media and in political slogans. According to a 2012 study, the replacement of native local languages with Pidgin is inevitable in the areas studied.

Afroasiatic languages

The Afroasiatic languages of Nigeria are divided into Chadic, Semitic and Berber. Among these categories, Chadic languages predominate, with more than 700 languages. Semitic is represented by various dialects of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

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

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

is the best known Chadic 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 ''

'' 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 Chadic 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 a native ethnic group in West Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which is the ...

became closely integrated with the Fulani following the establishment of the

Sokoto Caliphate The Sokoto Caliphate (, literally: Caliphate in the Lands of Sudan), also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fula jihads, Fulani jihads ...

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 and Bauchi; Western Hausa dialects include Sakkwatanchi spoken in Sokoto, Katsinanchi in Katsina Arewanchi in both Gobir and Adar, Kebbi and Zamfara. Katsina is transitional between Eastern and Western dialects. Northern Hausa dialects include Arewa and Arawa, whilst Zaria is a prominent Southern version; Barikanchi is a

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language 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 f ...

formerly used in the military. Hausa is a very atypical Chadic 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, Kamwe, Margi, Karai-Karai 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 (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...

known as '' ajami''. However, the modern official orthography is now a romanization known as ''boko'' introduced by the British regime in the 1930s.

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 oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 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 Senegambian origin but now spoken by cattle pastoralists across the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

and largely in the northeastern states of Nigeria, especially Adamawa. The Ijoid languages are spoken across the Niger Delta region and include Ịjọ (Ijaw), Kalabari, and the intriguing remnant language Defaka. The Ibibio language is spoken across the coastal southeastern part of Nigeria and includes the dialects Oron, Annang, and

proper. The single Gur language spoken is Baatọnun, in the extreme Northwest. The Adamawa–Ubangian languages are spoken across a region spanning central Nigeria to the Central African Republic. In Nigeria, the westernmost languages of this group are the Tula-Waja languages. The Kwa languages are represented by the Gun group in the far southwest, which is related to the Gbe languages spoken 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 M ...

classified those without noun-classes, such as Yoruba, Igbo, and Ibibio (Efik, Oron, 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, i.e.

Igbo language Igbo ( , ; Standard Igbo: ''Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò'' ) is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, an ethnicity in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. Igbo languages are spoken by a total of 31 million people. The number of Igbo ...

proper, Ukwuani, Ikwerre, Ekpeye etc., Yoruboid, i.e. Yoruba, Itsekiri and Igala, Akokoid (eight small languages in Ondo, Edo and Kogi state), Edoid including Edo (sometimes referred to as) Bini in

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

, Ibibio-Efik, Idomoid ( Idoma) and Nupoid ( Nupe) and perhaps include the other languages mentioned above. The Idoma language 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 (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), 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. ...

(46 languages, notably Gamai language), Jukunoid, Dakoid and some parts of Cross River. Apart from these, there are numerous Bantoid languages, which are the languages immediately ancestral to Bantu. These include Mambiloid, Ekoid of Cross River State, Bendi, Beboid, Grassfields and Tivoid languages. 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''), also known as gall, is a yellow-green/misty green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is primarily composed of water, is pro ...

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, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

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 Ibibio, 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 came into being due to the work of Samuel Crowther, the first African bishop of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and owes most of its lexicon to the dialects spoken in Ọyọ and

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

. 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 Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often prefer ...

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, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...

and

vowel A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

systems; more information is available here.

Branches and locations

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

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 ...

, and other states of the Niger Delta region.

Mande languages The Mande languages are a family of languages spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples. They include Maninka (Malinke), Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Jula (Dioula), Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are ar ...

are spoken in Kebbi State,

Niger State Niger State is a state in the North Central (Nigeria), North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory, to the north by Kebbi State and Zamfara State, ...

, and

Kwara State Kwara () 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 international border with Benin. Its ca ...

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 Kebbi State, Zamfara State, Sokoto State,

near the border with the neighbouring countries of Niger and northern Benin, also in

Kaduna State Kaduna (, جىِهَر كَدُنا; مدينة كدونا; , ; ) is a States of Nigeria, state in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna (city), Kaduna, which was the List of Nigerian ...

Yobe State Yobe is a States of Nigeria, state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu, and its largest city by populati ...

and

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

trading community. *

Central Sudanic languages 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, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), N ...

: ** 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, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nige ...

language of

Taraba State Taraba is a States of Nigeria, state in north-eastern Nigeria, named after the Taraba River, which traverses the southern part of the state. It is known as "Nature's Gift to the Nation". Its capital is Jalingo. The state's main Demographics ...

Foreign languages

French is compulsory in all schools. In January 2016, the Minister for Education Anthony Anwukah announced a wish to make French the second language of business in Nigeria because the majority of African countries are

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

and all of Nigeria's neighbouring countries are francophone.

List of languages

This is a non-exhaustive list of languages spoken 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