FA S C INATIN G C ULTUR E
Mother
tongue Fascinating Nigeria takes a tour of the spoken word in Nigeria.
NIGERIA PEOPLE CULTURAL GROUPS n Hause 21% n Yoruba 21% n Igbo 18% n Fulani 11% n Ibibio 7% n Kanuri 4% n Edo 3% n Tiv 2% n Ijaw 2% n Bura 2% n Nupe 1% n Other 8%
N
igeria is a land of diverse cultures, so it is no surprise that there are hundreds of languages and dialects spoken in the country. Plateau State, for example, is home to 46 languages amongst its 3 million people. English was picked as the official language of the country so as to foster unity and allow for ease of communication amongst people of different tribes and tongues. While English is widely spoken in urban areas, traditional languages and dialects are more common in the rural communities. The three most widely spoken indigenous languages are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, spoken amongst northerners, easterners and southwesterners respectively. Other major languages spoken include Ibibio, Fulfulde, Edo, and Kanuri. Nigerian languages reflect the linguistic diversity of Africa, and they are spread across the three major African language families: Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Niger–Congo. In the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, the languages spoken include Kalabari, Defaka and Ijaw. Close to them geographically are the Efiks, with their dialects including Ibibio, Annang and Efik. In Igbo land dialects include Igbo, Ukwuani, Ikwerre, Ekpeye and Enuani. In the North, languages include Baat�nun, Hausa, Bade, Barikanchi, Arewa and Arawa. There are several small language groupings in the Niger
134
LANGUAGES n Hause 21% n Yoruba 20% n Igbo 17% n Fulani 9% n Ibibio-Efik5% n Kanuri 4% n Edo 2% n Tiv 3% n Ijaw 2% n Nupe 1% n Igala 1% n Idoma 1% n Other 14%
www.fascinatingnigeriamagazine.com