# Ijaw languages

The Ijaw languages (/ˈiːdʒɔː/), also spelled Ịjọ, are the languages spoken by the Ijaw people in southern Nigeria.

## Classification

The Ijo languages were traditionally considered a distinct branch of the Niger–Congo family (perhaps along with Defaka in a group called Ijoid). They are notable for their subject–object–verb basic word order, which is otherwise an unusual feature in Niger–Congo, shared only by such distant potential branches as Mande and Dogon. Like Mande and Dogon, Ijoid lacks even traces of the noun class system considered characteristic of Niger–Congo. This motivated Joseph Greenberg, in his initial classification of Niger–Congo, to describe them as having split early from that family. However, owing to the lack of these features, linguist Gerrit Dimmendaal doubts their inclusion in Niger–Congo altogether and considers the Ijoid languages to be an independent family.
The following internal classification is based on Jenewari (1989) and Williamson & Blench (2000).
* Ijoid
** East
*** Nkoroo
*** Kalabari (Bonny/Ibani, Okrika/Kirike)
*** Bille (Touma, Krikama, Jikeama)
*** Southeast Ijo
**** Nembe
**** Akassa
** West (or Central)
*** Izon
*** Inland Ijo
**** Biseni
**** Akita (Okordia)
**** Oruma
Blench (2019) moves Southeast Ijo into the West (or Central) branch.
* Ijoid
** East
*** Nkoroo
*** Kalabari (Bonny/Ibani, Okrika/Kirike)
*** Bille
** West (or Central)
*** Southeast Ijo
**** Nembe
**** Akassa
*** Izon–Inland Ijo
**** Izon
**** Inland Ijo
***** Biseni
***** Akita (Okordia)
***** Oruma

## Names and locations

Below is a list of Ijaw language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019).
| Language | Cluster | Alternate spellings | Own name for language | Endonym(s) | Other names (location-based) | Other names for language | Speakers | Location(s) |
| Nembe–Akaha cluster | Nembe–Akaha | | | | Brass–Ịjọ | | 71,500 (1977 Voegelin and Voegelin) | Rivers State, Brass LGA |
| Nembe | Nembe–Akaha | Nimbi | | Nembe | Brass (older term not giving way to Nembe), Nempe, Itebu (Cust 1883); (Nembe) Brass (Tepowa 1904); Nembe–Brass (Book of Common Prayer, 1957); Ijo (Nembe) (Bible, 1956); Brass–Nembe–Ijaw (Rowlands, 1960); Nembe–Ịjọ (Alagoa, 1967). | | 66,600 (1963) | Rivers State, Brass LGA, Nembe, Ọkpọma and Tụwọn (Brass) towns and nearby villages |
| Akaha | Nembe–Akaha | Akasa, Akassaa | Akaha | Akaha | | | 4,913 (1963) | Rivers State, Brass LGA, Opu–Akassa town and nearby hamlets |
| Bille | Bille | | Touma, Opu Bille Boko | | | | | Rivers State, Degema LGA; Bille Town and 29 Villages |
| Inland Ịjọ cluster | Inland Ịjọ | | | | | | | Rivers State, Yenagoa and Brass LGAs |
| Biseni | Inland Ịjọ | Buseni | Biseni | Biseni | | Amegi | Community consisting of five sections | Rivers State, Yenagoa LGA, Akpeịdẹ, Egbebiri, Kalama, Tẹịn and Tụbụrụ towns |
| Akịta | Inland Ịjọ | Okordia, Ọkọdi‡ | Akịta | Akịta | | | Community consisting of six sections, six towns | Rivers State, Yenagoa LGA |
| Oruma | Inland Ịjọ | | Tugbeni | Tugbeni Kạạmạ | | | A single town surrounded by Central Delta languages | Rivers State, Brass LGA |
| Kalaḅarị | KOIN (Kalaḅarị–Okrika–Ịḅanị–Nkọrọ) | | Kalaḅarị | Kalaḅarị | New Calabar | | 200,000 (1987, UBS) | Rivers State, Degema and Asari–Toru LGAs; 3 major towns and 24 villages |
| Kịrịkẹ | KOIN (Kalaḅarị–Okrika–Ịḅanị–Nkọrọ) | | | | Okrika | | Okrika town | Rivers State, Okrika LGA |

## In the diaspora

Berbice Creole Dutch, an extinct creole spoken in Guyana, had a lexicon based partly on an Ịjọ language, perhaps the ancestor of Kalabari.

## Education and media

In June 2013, the Izon Fie instructional book and audio CDs were launched at a ceremony attended by officials of the government of Bayelsa State. The Niger Delta University is working to expand the range of books available in the Ijo language. Translations of poetry and the Call of the River Nun by Gabriel Okara are underway.