Izon (language)

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Izon (Ịzọn)

Spoken in

Nigeria ( Bayelsa , Delta , Ondo and Ekiti )
speaker 1,000,000 (in 1989)
Linguistic
classification

Niger-Congo

Language codes
ISO 639-3

ijc

The Izon ( Ịzọn , also known as Central West Ijo, Ijaw, Izo, and Uzo) is the dominant Ijo language spoken by the majority of the Ijaw ethnic group in Nigeria .

It belongs to the language group of the ijoid languages ​​of the Niger-Congo language family . There are over two dozen dialects of the language, all of which are mutually understandable. The most important of them are Gbanran, Ekpetiama, and Kolokuma. Kolokuma is the language of education.

literature

  • Kay Williamson, AO Timitimi (Ed.): Short Ịzọn – English dictionary (Delta Series; Vol. 3). University of Port Harcourt Press, Port Harcourt 1983., ISBN 978-2321-09-5 .
  • Kay Williamson: A grammar of the Kolokuma dialect of Ịjọ (West African Language Monographs; Vol. 2.). 2nd edition CUP, London 1969.
  • Kay Williamson: Meter in Ịzọn funeral dirges . In: Ọ̀dụ̀má. Publication of the Rivers State Council for Arts and Culture , Vol. 2 (1975), Issue 2, ISSN  0331-1422 , pp. 21-33.
  • Kay Williamson: The tense system of Ịzọn . In: Okon E. Essien (Ed.): The tense systems of Nigerian languages ​​and English (Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere; Vol. 27). Institute for African Studies, Cologne 1991, pp. 145–167.
  • Kay Williamson: The language situation in the Niger Delta . In: Martha L. Akpana (Ed.): The development of Ịzọn language. Instrument for educational advancement in the Niger Delta Region . Onyoma Publ., Port Harcourt 2004, ISBN 978-36122-3-9 , pp. 9-13.

Web links