Eloyi language

Eloyi
Eloyi
Afu
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Benue State, Nassarawa State
Native speakers	25,000 (2000)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Plateau Eloyi; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	afo
Glottolog	eloy1241

Eloyi, or Afu (Afo), is a poorly attested Plateau language of uncertain classification. It is spoken by the Eloyi people of Agatu LGA, Benue State and Nassarawa State in Nigeria.

Classification

Armstrong (1955, 1983) classified Eloyi as Idomoid, but that identification was based on a single word list and Armstrong later expressed doubts. All other preliminary accounts classify it as Plateau, and Blench (2008) leaves it as a separate branch of Plateau.

Blench (2007)^[2] considers Eloyi to be a divergent Plateau language that has undergone Idomoid influence, rather than vice versa.

References

^ Eloyi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Blench, Roger. 2007. The Eloyi language of Central Nigeria and its affinities.

Blench (2008) Prospecting proto-Plateau. Manuscript.

External links

ComparaLex, database with Eloyi word list

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[e18-1] Eloyi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Blench, Roger. 2007. The Eloyi language of Central Nigeria and its affinities.

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