Ogoni languages
| Ogoni | |
|---|---|
| Kegboid | |
| Ethnicity | Ogoni people |
| Geographic distribution | SE Nigeria |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo? |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Glottolog | ogon1240 |
The Ogoni languages, or Kegboid languages, are the five languages of the Ogoni people of Rivers State, Nigeria.
They fall into two clusters, East and West, with a limited degree of mutual intelligibility between members of each cluster. The Ogoni think of the cluster members as separate languages, however.
The classification of the Ogoni languages is as follows:
- East: Khana and Tẹẹ, with around 1,800,000 speakers between them, and Gokana, with about 250,000.
- West: Eleme, with about 90,000 speakers, and Baan, with around 50,500.
Names and locations[edit]
Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).[1]
| Language | Branch | Dialects | Alternate spellings | Own name for language | Endonym(s) | Other names (location-based) | Other names for language | Exonym(s) | Speakers | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gokana | Kegboid | 54,000 (1973 SIL) | Rivers State, Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGA | |||||||
| Khana | Kegboid | Yeghe, Nyokhana, Ken–Khana, Boúe, Kaa | Khana | Ogoni (ethnic and political term includes Gokana) | 76,713 (1926 Talbot);[2] 90,000 (SIL) | Rivers State, Khana/Oyigbo and Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGAs | ||||
| Eleme | West | 55,000 (1987 UBS) | Rivers State, Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGA | |||||||
| Tẹẹ | West | Tai | Tèẹ̀ ̣ | Tèẹ̀ ̣ | 313,000 (2006) | Rivers State, Tèẹ̀ ̣Local Government Area (TALGA) | ||||
| Baan | Ka-Ban, Kesari | Ban–Ogoi | Goi, Ogoi | Fewer than 5,000 (1990) | Rivers State, Gokana–Tai–Eleme LGA, Ban–Ogoi plus villages |
See also[edit]
- List of Proto-Ogoni reconstructions (Wiktionary)
References[edit]
- Blench, Roger and Kay Williamson. 2008. The Ogoni languages: comparative word list and historical reconstructions.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license.