Ekoid languages
The ekoid languages ( Ekoid for short ) form a sub-unit of the southern bantoid languages , a branch of the Benue-Congo languages , which in turn belong to the Niger-Congo .
The eight ekoid languages are spoken by around 250,000 people in Southeast Nigeria and West Cameroon . The most important language is the Ejagham (or Ekoi ) with 120,000 speakers, after which the group is named.
Position of the Ekoid within the Niger-Congo
- Niger-Congo > Volta-Congo> Benue-Congo> East-Benue-Congo> Bantoid-Cross> Bantoid> South-Bantoid> Ekoid
Individual languages
- Ekoid
Some researchers add the southern bantoid Mbe (language code mfo ) to the Ekoid languages.
See also
- Niger Congo Languages
- Volta Congo languages
- Benue Congo languages
- East Benue Congo languages
- Bantoid languages
literature
- Joseph Greenberg: The Languages of Africa. Mouton, The Hague and Indiana University Center, Bloomington 1963.
- Bernd Heine and others (ed.): The languages of Africa. Buske, Hamburg 1981.
- Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse (eds.): African Languages. An Introduction. Cambridge University Press 2000.
In it: Kay Williamson and Roger Blench: Niger-Congo. - John Bendor-Samuel (Ed.): The Niger-Congo Languages: A Classification and Description of Africa's Largest Language Family. University Press of America, Lanham, New York, London 1989.
Therein: John R. Watters and Jacqueline Leroy: Southern Bantoid. - Patrick Bennett and Jan Sterk: South Central Niger-Congo: A Reclassification. Studies in African Linguistics. 1977.