Isoko language

Isoko
Isoko
Region	Nigeria
Ethnicity	Isoko
Native speakers	680,000 (2020)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Niger yeai Edoid Southwestern Isoko; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	iso
Glottolog	isok1239

Last updated January 15, 2026

Isoko is an Edoid language, spoken by the Isoko people in the Isoko region of Delta State and Bayelsa. The Isoko language has about 20 to 21 dialects, but the Aviara/Uzere dialect is the standard dialect of the language.^{[ citation needed ]}

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants^[3]
		Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Dental-Palatal	Alveolar	Palatal/Palato-alveolar	Velar	Labial–velar	Labiovelar	Glottal
Nasal		m		( n̪ )	n̪ɲ	n	( ɲ )			ŋʷ
Plosive	voiceless	p		t̪	( t̪c )	t	( c )	k	( kp )
Plosive	voiced	b		d̪	( d̪ɟ )	d	( ɟ )	ɡ	ɡb	( ɡʷ )
Implosive	voiceless	ƥ
Implosive	voiced	ɓ
Affricate	voiceless						( tʃ )
Affricate	voiced						dʒ
Fricative	voiceless	( ɸ )	f			s	ʃ	( x )		ʍ ~ hʷ	h
	voiced		v			z		ɣ		ɣʷ
	breathy		v̤			( z̤ )					ɦ
Approximant	central					ɹ	j			w
Approximant	lateral					l
Tap						ɾ
Trill						r

Consonants in parentheses occur in dialects other than Uzere.

According to Donwa-Ifode (1986), the following phonetic variations exist between dialects:

[ n̪ ] ~ [ n̪ɲ ] ~ [ ɲ ] ~ [ hʲ ] ~ [ j ]
[ ŋʷ ] ~ [ hʷ ] ~ [ ʍ ]
[ t̪ ] ~ [ t̪c ] ~ [ c ]
[ d̪ ] ~ [ d̪ɟ ] ~ [ ɟ ] ~ [ dʒ ] ~ [ ɡʲ ] ~ [ d ]
[ ƥ ] ~ [ kp ]
[ ɓ ] ~ [ ɡb ]
[ tʃ ] ~ [ kʲ ]
[ dʒ ] ~ [ ɡʲ ] ~ [ d ]
[ ɾ ] ~ [ r ] ~ [ ɹ ]
[ v ] ~ [ v̤ ] ~ [ ɸ ]
[ z ] ~ [ z̤ ] ~ [ ɹ̝ ]
[ x ] ~ [ ɣ ] ~ [ ɡ ]
[ xʷ ] ~ [ ɣʷ ] ~ [ ɡʷ ]
[ ɦɾ ] ~ [ ɹ ] ~ [ l ]
[ hʷ ] ~ [ ʍ ]

Vowels

Vowels
	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ ⟨ẹ⟩	ɔ ⟨ọ⟩
Open	a

Orthography

Isoko alphabet^[4]^{[ better source needed ]}
A	B	D	E	Ẹ	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M
N	O	Ọ	P	R	S	T	U	V	W	Y	Z

Digraphs
CH	GB	GH	HW	KP	NW	NY	SH	TH	WH

References

↑ Isoko at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
↑ "Isoko". archive.phonetics.ucla.edu.
↑ Donwa-Ifode, Shirley (1986). "Phonetic Variation in Consonants (Isoko)". Anthropological Linguistics. 28 (2): 149–160. JSTOR 30028405.
↑ Isoko language and alphabet – Omniglot

External links

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[e25-1] Isoko at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[2] "Isoko". archive.phonetics.ucla.edu.

[3] Donwa-Ifode, Shirley (1986). "Phonetic Variation in Consonants (Isoko)". Anthropological Linguistics. 28 (2): 149–160. JSTOR 30028405.

[4] Isoko language and alphabet – Omniglot

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