Branch of Benue–Congo languages spoken in Nigeria and Cameroon
Cross River
Delta–Cross
Geographic distribution
Southeastern Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon
Linguistic classification
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic–Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue–Congo
Cross River
Subdivisions
Upper Cross
Lower Cross
Ogoni (Kegboid)
Central Delta
Glottolog
delt1251
The Cross River languages shown within Nigeria and Cameroon:
Central Delta
Ogoni
Lower Cross:
Obolo
Lower Cross proper
Upper Cross:
Upper Cross besides Central
Central Upper Cross:
North–South
East–West
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.
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.
and 25 Related for: Cross River languages information
The CrossRiver or Delta–Crosslanguages are a branch of the Benue–Congo language family spoken in south-easternmost Nigeria, with some speakers in south-westernmost...
The Upper CrossRiverlanguages form a branch of the CrossRiverlanguages of CrossRiver State, Nigeria. The most populous languages are Lokö and Mbembe...
Lower CrossRiverlanguages form a branch of the CrossRiverlanguages of CrossRiver State, Nigeria. They consist of the divergent Obolo language (or Andoni...
by Bishop Nneoyi O. Egbe. [6] Languages of CrossRiver State listed by LGA includes : Other languages spoken in Cross State are Eki, Ibibio, Ilue, Ito...
in the North-West of Cameroon. The Efik language is mutually intelligible with other lower CrossRiverlanguages such as Ibibio, Annang, Oro and Ekid but...
Ibibio is the native language of the Ibibio people of Nigeria, belonging to the Ibibio-Efik dialect cluster of the CrossRiverlanguages. The name Ibibio...
The Bendi languages are a small group of languages spoken in CrossRiver State, southeastern Nigeria. Bokyi is one of the Bendi languages having some...
Yala languages of Benue, Nasarawa and Northern CrossRiver states. East Benue–Congo includes Kainji, Plateau (46 languages, notably Gamai language), Jukunoid...
Upper CrossRiverlanguage spoken by the Orring people of Nigeria. Korring language is spoken by the Orring people who are found in Benue, CrossRiver and...
Government Area of CrossRiver State. Humono at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge:...
Mbembe is a CrossRiverlanguage of Nigeria. Odut, a divergent variety spoken in a village far South of the rest of Mbembe, had 20 speakers in 1980 and...
(also known as Ngbe or Egbo), a secret society that is found across old CrossRiver region among the Igbo, Ekoi, Efik, Bahumono, and other nearby peoples...
Oro (Oron) is a Lower CrossRiverlanguage of Nigeria. The phonemes of Oron comprise seven oral vowels í, ε, e, a, o, ɔ, u, five plosive consonants b,...
The Gwune language, also known as Agwagwune, is an Upper CrossRiverlanguage of Nigeria spoken by the Akunakuna people. It is a dialect cluster named...
The Ogoni languages, or Kegboid languages, are the five languages of the Ogoni people of Rivers State, Nigeria. They fall into two clusters, East and...
or Iyongiyong (a name shared with Kiong), is an endangered Upper CrossRiverlanguage of Nigeria. Bakpinka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription...
CrossRiverlanguage of Nigeria. Okoyong speakers of the Kiong language are geographically located in the Odukpani and Akamkpa region of CrossRiver State...
consonant inventory compared to the Ekoid languages, presumably due to contact from neighbouring Upper CrossRiverlanguages. All Mbe consonants apart from the...
Kalabar) is the capital city of CrossRiver State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominated this...
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