Ijo–Defaka

E411366

Ijo–Defaka refers to a small group of closely related Niger-Congo languages spoken in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, notable for their distinct linguistic features and limited number of speakers.

All labels observed (3)

Label Occurrences
Ijo 2
Central Ijo 1
Ijo–Defaka canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (42)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Niger–Congo language group
language family
endangermentStatus endangered
geographicDistribution creeks and coastal areas of the Niger Delta
hasAlternativeName Ijoid
Ijoid languages
hasGeneticClassification Atlantic–Congo (proposed)
Ijoid branch
Niger–Congo
hasLinguisticFeature basic SOV word order in many varieties
complex aspect and tense marking
distinctive pronominal systems
noun class remnants or reduced gender systems
rich verbal morphology
tonal phonology
hasNotableLanguage Defaka
Kalabari Ijo
Kolokuma Ijo
Nembe Ijo
linked to: Nembe-Ijo

Okrika Ijo
linked to: Okrika Ijaw
hasNumberOfSpeakers small
hasPart Defaka language
Ijo languages
linked to: Ijaw languages
hasResearcher Kay Williamson
Roger Blench
hasSociolinguisticFeature languages are under pressure from dominant regional languages
many speakers are bilingual or multilingual
hasTypologicalNote shows structural features unusual for many Niger–Congo languages
sometimes considered divergent within Niger–Congo
hasWritingSystem Latin script
linked to: Latin alphabet
isSubjectOf historical-comparative linguistic research
morphosyntactic studies
phonological studies
languageShiftTo English
Nigerian Pidgin
neighboring Ijo varieties
locatedIn Niger Delta
Nigeria
spokenIn Bayelsa State NERFINISHED
Rivers State NERFINISHED
southern Nigeria NERFINISHED
subclassOf Niger–Congo languages

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ijoid languages alternativeName Ijo–Defaka
Izon language alternativeName Ijo
linked to: Ijo–Defaka
Opokuma language belongsToBranch Central Ijo
linked to: Ijo–Defaka
Ijoid family hasMember Ijo
linked to: Ijo–Defaka