Ega language
Encyclopedia
Ega, also known as Egwa and Diés, is a language of uncertain affiliation within the Niger–Congo language family spoken Ivory Coast. It does not appear to belong to any of the traditional branches of Niger–Congo. Though traditionally assumed to be one of the Kwa languages
, Roger Blench
now classifies it as a separate branch of the Atlantic–Congo family, though perhaps not far from Kwa and the Volta–Niger languages
.
The Ega people are increasing in number, though some are shifting to Dida
through intermarriage.
Ega has the full noun class
system for which the Bantu languages
are known.
Kwa languages
The Kwa languages, often specified as New Kwa, are a proposed but as-yet-undemonstrated family of languages spoken in the south-eastern part of Côte d'Ivoire, across southern Ghana, and in central Togo...
, Roger Blench
Roger Blench
Roger Blench is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and remains based in Cambridge, England...
now classifies it as a separate branch of the Atlantic–Congo family, though perhaps not far from Kwa and the Volta–Niger languages
Volta–Niger languages
The Volta–Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue–Congo or East Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger–Congo language family, with perhaps 50 million speakers...
.
The Ega people are increasing in number, though some are shifting to Dida
Dida language
Dida is a dialect cluster of the Kru family spoken in Ivory Coast.Ethnologue divides Dida into two groups, Yocoboué Dida and Lakota Dida , which are only marginally mutually intelligible and best considered separate languages...
through intermarriage.
Ega has the full noun class
Noun class
In linguistics, the term noun class refers to a system of categorizing nouns. A noun may belong to a given class because of characteristic features of its referent, such as sex, animacy, shape, but counting a given noun among nouns of such or another class is often clearly conventional...
system for which the Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
are known.