Ijaw, also spelled Ịjọ, is the main subgroup of the Ijoid

Ijoid languages

The Ijoid languages are spoken by the Ịjọ and Defaka peoples of the Niger Delta, who number about ten million. The most populous language by far is Izon, with about a million speakers, followed by Okrike-Kalabari with over a half million. The family is generally divided in two branches, Ịjọ and...

 group of Niger–Congo languages

Niger–Congo languages

The Niger–Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in terms of distinct languages, although this question...

. Ijaw languages are spoken in southern Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 by the Ijaw people.

Berbice Creole Dutch

Berbice Creole Dutch

Berbice Dutch Creole is a now extinct Dutch-based creole language. It had a lexicon partly based on a dialect of the West African language of Ijaw...

, a creole spoken in Guyana, has a lexicon based partly on an Ịjọ language, perhaps the ancestor of Kalabari (Kouwenberg 1994).

Classification

The following classification is based on Jenewari (1989) and Williamson & Blench (2000).

• East
  • Nkoroo
    Nkoroo language
    Nkọrọọ is a Niger–Congo language spoken by about 4500 ethnic Nkọrọọ in Rivers State, Nigeria....
    
    
  • Kalabari
    Kalabari language
    Kalabari is an Ijaw language of Nigeria. Its three dialects are mutually intelligible. The Kalabari dialect is one of the best-documented varieties of Ijaw, and as such is frequently used as the prime example of Ijaw in linguistic literature....
    
     (Bonny/Ibani, Okrika/Kirike)
  • Nembe (Southeast Ijo)
    Nembe language
    Southeast Ijaw is an Ijaw language spoken in southern Nigeria. There are two dialects, Nembe and Akassa ....
    
    
• West (or Central)
  • Izon
    Izon language
    Izon , also known as Ijo, Ijaw, Izo, and Uzo, is the dominant Ijaw language, spoken by a majority of the Ijaw people of Nigeria....
    
    
  • Inland Ijaw
    • Biseni
      Biseni language
      Biseni is one of three small Inland Ijaw languages of Nigeria. According to Ethnologue, it is not fully intelligible with other varieties of Inland Ijaw....
      
      
    • Akita (Okordia)
    • Oruma
      Oruma language
      Oruma is one of three small Inland Ijaw languages of Nigeria. According to Ethnologue, it is not fully intelligible with other varieties of Inland Ijaw....
      
      

External links

• Ịjo on the Ethnologue
• http://www.ijawdictionary.com
• http://www.ijawdictionaryonline.com