Tivoid languages

The tivoid languages ( Tivoid 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 roughly 20 tivoid languages ​​are spoken by around 2.5 million people in eastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon . The most important language is Tiv , which is spoken by 2.2 million speakers in the Nigerian states of Benue , Plateau and Taraba .

Position of the tivoid languages ​​within the Niger-Congo

• Niger-Congo > Volta-Congo> Benue-Congo> East-Benue-Congo> Bantoid-Cross> Bantoid> South-Bantoid> Tivoid

The Tivoid Languages

• Tivoid
  • Nigeria group
    • Tiv (2.2 million)
    • Bitare (50 thousand), Batu (25 thousand), Abon (1 thousand), Ambo (1 thousand), Otank (3 thousand)
  • Cameroon group
    • Esimbi (20 thousand), Mesaka (15 thousand), Manta (15 thousand), Iceve-Maci (12 thousand)
    • Evant (10 thousand), Caka (5 thousand), Eman (1 thousand), Ipulo (3 thousand), Iyive (2 thousand), Balo , Usatu

See also

• Niger Congo Languages
• Volta Congo languages
• Benue Congo languages
• East Benue Congo languages
• Bantoid languages

literature

• Bernd Heine and others (ed.): The languages ​​of Africa. Buske, Hamburg 1981.
• Joseph Greenberg: The Languages ​​of Africa. Mouton, The Hague and Indiana University Center, Bloomington 1963.
• 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.

Web links

• Ernst Kausen, The Classification of the Benue-Congo Languages ​​within the Niger-Congo. (DOC; 227 kB)