Summary
The Cross River or Delta–Cross languages are a branch of the Benue–Congo language family spoken in south-easternmost Nigeria, with some speakers in south-westernmost Cameroon. The branch was first formulated by Joseph Greenberg; it is one of the few of his branches of Niger–Congo that has withstood the test of time.
| Cross River | |
|---|---|
| Delta–Cross | |
| Geographic distribution | Southeastern Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo?
|
| Subdivisions |
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| Glottolog | delt1251 |
 The Cross River languages shown within Nigeria and Cameroon:
| |
Greenberg's Cross River family originally included the Bendi languages. The Bendi languages were soon seen to be very different and thus were made a separate branch of Cross River, while the other languages were united under the branch Delta–Cross. However, the inclusion of Bendi in Cross River at all is doubtful, and it has been tentatively reassigned to the Southern Bantoid family, making the terms Cross River and Delta–Cross now synonymous.
Demographics edit
In Nigeria, this languages are spoken in Cross River State, Akwa Ibom state, Rivers State, Bayelsa State, Ebonyi State and Benue State. The Ibibio language is also spoken in Abia State.
Languages edit
There are four primary branches of Cross River:
- Central Delta, 8 languages, the most populous being Ogbia with 100,000 speakers
- Ogoni, 5 languages, with Ogoni proper (Khana) having 200,000 speakers
- Upper Cross River, 22 languages, the most populous being Lokaa with 120,000 speakers
- Lower Cross River, 23 languages, the most populous being Ibibio language (3.5 million speakers)
Branches and locations edit
Below is a list of major Cross River branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) in southeast Nigeria and southwest Cameroon based on Blench (2019).[1]
| Branch | Primary locations |
|---|---|
| Upper Cross River | Obubra, Abi, Biase, Yala, Yakurr, Odukpani, Ikom and Akamkpa LGAs, Cross River State The Korring, Kukele, Mbembe language of Ebonyi State |
| Lower Cross River | Akwa Ibom State (All local Government Areas)
Andoni LGA, Rivers State |
| Ogoni | Gokana, Tai, Khana and Eleme LGAs, Rivers State |
| Central Delta | Abua–Odual, Ahoada West LGAs, Rivers State Ogbia, Yenagoa LGAs, Bayelsa State |
Internal classification edit
Roger Blench (2008: 4)[2] classifies the Cross River languages as follows.
- Cross River
- ? Bendi (Yakoro, Bendi, Alege, Bumaji, Bokyi, etc.)
- Delta-Cross
- Upper Cross
- Core
- North-South (Koring, Kukele, Kohumono, Agwagwune, etc.)
- East-West (Ikom, Mbembe, Legbo, etc.)
- Ukpet-Ehom
- Agoi, Doko, Iyongiyong
- Kiong, Korop
- Core
- Lower Cross
- East (Efik, Ibibio, Anaang, Efiat, etc.)
- Central (Enwang, Uda)
- West (Ebughu, Oro, Usakade, Obolo, etc.)
- Ogoni
- Eleme; Baan (Ogoi)
- Gokana; Tẹẹ (Tai); Kana
- Central Delta
- Abuan, Odual
- Kugbo, Ogbia, etc.
- Upper Cross
Although Blench (2004) tentatively included the Bendi languages as possibly being a Cross River outlier branch, the Bendi languages are generally classified as Southern Bantoid.
See also edit
- Cross River (Nigeria), the namesake of the language group
References edit
Bibliography edit
- Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- Connell, Bruce (1994). "The lower Cross river languages: A prolegomena to the classification of the Cross river languages". Journal of West African Languages. 24 (1): 3–46.
- Faraclas, Nicholas (1986). "Cross river as a model for the evolution of Benue-Congo nominal class/concord systems" (PDF). Studies in African Linguistics. 17 (1): 39–54. doi:10.32473/sal.v17i1.107495. S2CID 126381408.
- Greenberg, Joseph H. (1963). The Languages of Africa. Bloomingtom: Indiana University.
External links edit
- ComparaLex, database with Cross River word lists
- Journal of West African Languages: Cross River Languages