Tiv language

Tiv is a Tivoid language spoken in some states in North Central Nigeria, with some speakers in Cameroon. It had over 5 million speakers in 2020. The largest population of Tiv speakers are found in Benue state in Nigeria. The language is also widely spoken in the Nigerian states of Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa and Cross River. It is by far the largest of the Tivoid languages, a group of languages belonging to the Southern Bantoid languages

Geographic distribution

Tiv is widely spoken in the States of Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, Cross Rivers, Adamawa, Kaduna, and Abuja. Other parts of Nigeria also speak Tiv.

Benue state

Tarkaa, Makurdi, Gwer East, Gwer west, Ukum, Logo, Konshisha, Gboko, Kwande, Vandeikya, Katsina Ala, Guma, Buruku, and Ushongo Local Government Areas.

Nassarawa state

Doma, Nasarawa, Lafia, Obi, Keana, and Awe Local Government Areas

Plateau state

Qua’an Pan and Shendam Local Government Areas

Taraba state

Bali, Donga, Ibi, Gassol, Takum, Gashaka, Kurmi and Wukari Local Government Areas

Cross River state

Yala, Bekwara, Obudu, and Obanliku Local Government Areas.

Cameroon

There are 1700 Tiv households with approximately 11,000 people at the south-western border of Cameroon, Manyu division, north east of Akwaya on the Nigerian border, and bordering the Iyom tribes of Cameroon. Their paramount ruler is Zaki Abaajul, who has the Tiv and Ulitsi as his subjects. The Cameronian Tiv are well educated and live in anglophone Cameroon as their ancestral land, while a few others live in the francophone region. They are mostly farmers but others work in the government.

Dialects

Tiv has no dialects. Tiv speakers can understand each other across their territory. However, accents (''ham'') exist.

Phonology

Vowels

* Vowel sounds are phonetically nasalized before nasal consonants.
* can be freely heard as or before a nasal consonant.

Consonants

* is heard phonetically as , but is often voiced as .
* is heard in free variation in word-final positions.
* occurs in other dialects.

Tone

Tiv has three main tones (five if rising and falling are counted as separate tones instead of composites of existing tones). They are most importantly used in inflection.

Accents

The accents of Tiv are as follows:
* Ityoisha, spoken in the southeast, noted for its exaggerated palatalisation of vowels;
* Shitile, spoken by most Tiv east of the Katsina Ala River, apparently slower sounding than the other Tiv accents and slurs vowels into their neighbouring consonant;
* Iharev, which gives an exaggerated roll to the phoneme ~
* Kparev, spoken in the centre and south-centre;
** Kunav, a sub-accent of Kparev, noted for its preference for sounds where other Kparev use .
Vocabulary, particularly plant and tool names, changes from one part of Tiv territory to the other.

History and classification

The first reference to the Tiv language (''dzwa Tiv'') was made by Koelle (1854) from liberated slaves from Sierra Leone. Johnston (1919) classified it as a peculiar language among the Semi-Bantu languages, and Talbot (1926) concurred. Abraham (1933), who has made the most complete linguistic study of Tiv, classifies it as Bantu languages, Bantu, stating that its vocabulary is more similar to the East African Nyanza group of Bantu languages than to Ekoi or other neighbouring languages. Malherbe (1933) agrees with Abraham that Tiv is essentially Bantu.

All material on Tiv seems to point to a recent expansion, perhaps in the early 15th century.

Morphology

Tiv has nine noun classes.

See also

*Tiv people
*Ate-u-tiv, a traditional Tiv hut used for reception and gathering

References

*R.C.Abraham, A Dictionary of the Tiv Language, Government of Nigeria 1940, republished by Gregg Press Ltd., Farnborough, Hants., England 1968.

External links

Tiv-English DictionaryPanAfrican L10n page on Tiv

Religious materials

Video and audio files, New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures Released and other bible study material in Tiv Language
by Jehovah's Witnesses

The bible in the tiv language

Gospel

{{Authority control
Languages of Nigeria
Tivoid languages
Tiv people