Kalabari language

Last updated
Kalabari
Ibani–Kalabari–Kirike
Native to Nigeria
Region Rivers State
Ethnicity Kalabari, Ibani
Native speakers
(570,000 cited 1989–1995) [1]
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Kalabari
  • Ibani (Bonny)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
ijn   Kalabari
iby   Ibani
okr   Kirike
Glottolog kaki1246
ELP Kalabari
  Kirike [2]

Kalabari is an Ijo language of Nigeria spoken in Rivers State and Bayelsa State by the Awome people. [3] Its three dialects are mutually intelligible.[ citation needed ] The Kalabari dialect (Kalabari proper) is one of the best-documented varieties of Ijo, and as such is frequently used as the prime example of Ijo in linguistic literature.

Contents

As of 2005, the language, "spoken by 258,000 people, [was] endangered largely because of the massive relocation that has taken place in the area due to the development of Nigeria's oil industry in the Port Harcourt region." [4]

Berbice Creole Dutch, a recently extinct Dutch Creole formerly spoken in Eastern Guyana, was spoken by descendants of Kalabari speakers. The African element in Berbice Dutch is predominantly Kalabari in origin. [5]

Kalabari-language words have been proposed for some modern technical terms. [6]

Dialects

Kalabari is spoken south of Port Harcourt.

Ibani is spoken southeast of Port Harcourt, in the Bonny local government area and in Opobo.

Kirike is spoken in Port Harcourt and the local government areas of Okrika and Ogu–Bolo.

Writing system

Ibani alphabet [7]
abdefggbghgwhijkkpkwlmnnwnyoprstuvwyz
Kirike alphabet [8]
abchdefggbgwhijkkpkwlmnñnwnyoprstuvwyz

See also

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References

  1. Kalabari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Ibani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kirike at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Kirike.
  3. "Kalahari Bibi: Introducing The Kalabari Language" . Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  4. "2006 Funded Projects". Endangered Language Fund. Archived from the original on 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  5. "Ijoid languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  6. Iyalla-Amadi, Priye E. (March 2012). "Lexicological Development of Kalabari Language in the Age of Technology: A Comparative Study of French and Kalabari" (PDF). The Journal of Pan African Studies. 5 (1): 154–163. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  7. Ngulube 2011a.
  8. Ngulube 2011b.

Works cited