Lower Cross River languages

Last updated
Lower Cross River
Lower Cross, Ibibioid
Geographic
distribution
Nigeria; Roughly west of the Imo estuary to east of the Cross estuary.
lower Southwest Cameroon
Linguistic classification Niger–Congo?
Subdivisions
  • Obolo
  • Lower Cross proper (Ibibioid)
Glottolog obol1242

The Lower Cross River languages form a branch of the Cross River languages of Cross River State, Nigeria. They consist of the divergent Obolo language (or Andoni, 200,000 speakers), and the core of the branch, which includes the 4 million speakers of the Efik-Ibibio cluster. [1]

Contents

Additionally, Ethnologue lists several more languages within the Efik-Ibibio cluster. (See Ibibio-Efik languages.)

Forde and Jones (1950) considered Ibino and Oro to be Efik-Ibibio.

Names and locations

Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019). [2]


LanguageBranchDialectsAlternate spellingsOwn name for language Endonym(s)Other names (location-based)Other names for language Exonym(s)SpeakersLocation(s)Notes
Ebughu EbughuEbughuOronmore than 5,000 (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Mbo and Oron LGAs
Enwang EnwangEnwangOron (incorrectly)estimated 50,000 plus (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Mbo LGA
Iko IkoObolo (incorrectly included within Obolo)Three villages: 5,000+ (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Eastern Obolo LGA [3]
Ilue IduaIlue5,000 (1988); diminishing Akwa Ibom State, Oron LGA
Ọkọbọ 11,200 (1945 F&J); 50,000 Akwa Ibom State, Okobo LGA
Uda Uda10,000 plus (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Mbo LGA
Ukwa Cross River State, Akampka LGA
Usaghade Usakade(t)UsaghadeIsangeleestimate 10,000 (1990) although mostly in Cameroon Cross River State, Odukpani LGA; mainly in Cameroon, Isangele sub–division
Idere Ideremore than 5,000 (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Itu LGAno data
Efai EfaiEffiat (from Efik)>5,000 (1988 est.) Akwa Ibom State, Mbo LGA; Cameroon, Isangele sub–division
Ọrọ OronỌrọ (Oro)Ọrọ (Oro)319,000 (1963 per Kuperus) Akwa Ibom State, Oron LGA
Ito Ito5,000 plus (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Akamkpa LGAno data
Eki Eki5000 plus (1988) Cross River State no data
Etebi CentralEtebiOron (incorrectly); Ekit (incorrectly)estimate 15,000 (1989) Akwa Ibom State, Uquo Ibeno LGA
Itu Mbon Uzo CentralItu MbuzoItu Mbon Uzo5,000 plus (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Ikono LGA
Anaang CentralAbak, Ikot Ekpene, UkanafunAnnang, Anang, Anaŋ246,000 (F&J 1944-5): estimated 1,000,000 (1990) Akwa Ibom State, Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, Abak, Ukanafun and Oruk–Anam LGAs
Efik CentralCalabar26,300 (1950 F&J), [4] 10,000 in Cameroon; 360,000 first language speakers; spoken as a second language by 1.3 million (UN 1960), 3.5 million (1986 UBS) diminishing Cross River State, Calabar municipality, Odukpani and Akamkpa LGAs; and in Cameroon
Ekit CentralEkid, Eket22,000 (1952 W&B); estimated 200,000 (1989) Akwa Ibom State, Eket and Uquo Ibeno LGAs
Ibibio CentralNkari, Enyong, Central, Itak, Nsit etc. roughly according to clansIbibyo800,000 (1952) (may include Efik); 283,000 (1945 F&J); 2 million (1973 census); estimated 2.5 million (Ibibio proper 1990) Akwa Ibom State, Ikono, Itu, Uyo, Etinan, Ekpe–Atai, Uruan, Nsit–Ubium, Onna, Mkpat Enin and Abasi LGAs
Ibuoro CentralIbuoro5,000 plus (1988) Akwa Ibom State, Itu and Ikono LGAs
Obolo WestFrom West to East: Ataba, Unyeada, Ngo, Okoroete, Ibot OboloÒbólòAndoni22,400 (1944 F&J); 90,000 (1983 Aaron); 100,000 (Faraclas 1989) Rivers State, Andoni LGA: western dialects; Akwa Ibom State, Eastern Obolo LGA: eastern dialects [5]
Ibinọ WestIbuno, Ibeno10,000 (Faraclas (1989) Akwa Ibom State, Ibeno LGA [6]

Reconstructions

Proto-Lower Cross River has been reconstructed by Connell (n.d.) [7]

See also

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References

  1. Essien, Okon (1990). A grammar of the Ibibio language. Ibadan, Nigeria: University Press Limited.
  2. Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  3. "Iko".
  4. Forde, C.D. and G.I. Jones 1950. The Ibo and Ibibio speaking peoples of Southern Nigeria. Ethnographic Survey of Africa. Western Africa part III. International African Institute, London.
  5. "Obolo".
  6. "Ibino".
  7. Connell, Bruce. n.d. Comparative Lower Cross wordlist.

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