Igala language

Igala
Native to	Nigeria
Ethnicity	Igala
Native speakers	1.6 million (2020) [1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Volta–Niger yeai Yoruboid Igala
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	igl
Glottolog	igal1242

Igala is a Yoruboid language, spoken by the Igala ethnic group of Nigeria. In 1989 an estimated 800,000 spoke Igala, primarily in Kogi State, though current estimates place the number of Igala speakers at upwards of 1.6 million. Dialects include Ibaji, Idah, Dekina, Ogugu, Ankpa, Ebu, and the Olumbanasaa group (Anambra West); These lgala dialects share deep lexical (vocbulary) and structural similarities with the Yoruba and Itsekiri languages, with varying degrees of influence from neighbouring languages around the Niger-Benue triangular wedge where the Igala homeland is situated. ^[2] Renowned linguist Kay Williamson recorded a cognate/similarity score of 66% between Yoruba and Igala, and a score of 56% between Igala and Itsekiri. ^[3]

Igala, living on the left bank of the Niger River below its junction with the Benue River. Their language belongs to the Benue–Congo branch of the Niger–Congo family. Their ruler, the Àtá, traditionally also governed two other groups, the Bassa Nge and the Bass Nkome, who live between the Igala and the Benue River. ^[4]

Phonology

Igala's phonology is as follows: ^[5]

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial–velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n			ŋ
Plosive	Voiceless	p	t			k	k͡p
	Voiced	b	d			ɡ	ɡ͡b
Affricate	Voiceless			t͡ʃ
	Voiced			d͡ʒ
Fricative	Voiceless	f	s	ʃ				h
	Voiced					ɣ	gʷ
Trill			r
Approximant		w	l		j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i , ĩ		u , ũ
Close-Mid	e		o
Open-Mid	ɛ , ɛ̃		ɔ , ɔ̃
Open		a , ã

Igala has seven oral vowels and five nasal vowels.

Alphabet

The Igala alphabet has a total of thirty-one (31) letters. ^{[6] [7]}

Igala alphabet

Capital	Lowercase
A	a
B	b
Ch	ch
D	d
E	e
Ẹ	ẹ
F	f
G	g
Gb	gb
Gw	gw
H	h
I	i
J	j
K	k
Kp	kp
Kw	kw
L	l
M	m
N	n
Ny	ny
Ñ	ñ
Ñm	ñm
Ñw	ñw
O	o
Ọ	ọ
P	p
R	r
T	t
U	u
W	w

Vowels

Igala has seven vowel qualities and seven vowel letters: ⟨a⟩, ⟨e⟩⟨ẹ⟩⟨i⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨ọ⟩, and ⟨u⟩. ^[6]

Tones

Igala also has five tones: extra high, high, mid-high, mid, and low. ^{[6] [7]}

1. The high tone is represented with an acute accent ⟨◌́⟩.
2. The mid tone is unmarked ⟨◌⟩.
3. The mid-high tone, which is an infrequent tone, is marked with a macron ⟨◌̄⟩.
4. The low tone is marked with a grave accent ⟨◌̀⟩.
5. The extra-high tone, which is usually found in negative statements, is marked with a dot ⟨◌̇⟩.

Homographs

1. The word spelt, agba, depending on the tones used to pronounce it, may have four different meanings, namely:
   1. agba (casual greeting); pronounced with static, sustained Mid or Neutral tone – / ̩a ̩gba/
   2. àgbá (hand-cuffs); pronounced with Low-High tone combination / ̩à ‘gbá /
   3. àgbà (chin); pronounced with Low tone replicated – / ̩à ̩gbà /
   4. ágbá (Balsam tree); pronounced with the High tone duplicated – / á gbá / –
2. The bi-syllabic noun spelt, iga can generate three other words pronounced differently each having its distinct meaning as follows:
   1. ìga (Weaver bird); pronounced with Low-Mid tones – / ̩ ì ‘ga / – and a secondary-primary stress pattern.
   2. ìgà (net); pronounced with the Low tone duplicated – / ̩ ì ̩ gà / – and a secondary-secondary stress pattern.
   3. ìgá (estate); pronounced with the Low-High tone combination – / ̩ ì ‘gá / – and a secondary-primary stress pattern. ^[8]

References

1. Igala at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
2. Dunmade, Oluwatumininu (22 April 2022). "The Igala people: Their origin, food and dressing". Pulse NG. Pulse Africa.
3. Blench, Roger; Spriggs, Matthew (2 September 2003). Archaeology and Language IV: Language Change and Cultural Transformation. Routledge. p. 82. ISBN   978-1-134-81624-8 . Retrieved 9 March 2025.
4. "Igala". Encyclopedia Brittanica. 22 August 2019.
5. Arokoyo, Bolanle Elizabeth (2020). "Studying the Phonology of the Olùkùmi, Igala, Owé, and Yorùba Languages: A Comparative Analysis" (PDF). Dialectologia. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2020.
6. "The Igala Alphabet". Kigala. 13 December 2020. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022.
7. "Igala Language Study Series". 26 March 2017.
8. "Vocabulary".

External links

• Roger Blench, Paul Gross. 2005. Igala mammal names.