Ibibio-Efik, also known as Ibibio and Efik, is the major dialect cluster of the Benue–Congo language family called Cross River

Cross River languages

The Cross River or Delta–Cross languages are a branch of the Benue–Congo language family in south-easternmost Nigeria posited by Joseph Greenberg...

. Efik proper

Efik language

Efik , also known as Riverain Ibibio, is the native language of the Efik people of Nigeria, where it is a national language. It is the official language of the Cross River State in Nigeria.The name Efik is also used for Ibibio-Efik....

 has national status in Nigeria and is the literary standard of the Efik languages, though Ibibio proper

Ibibio language

Ibibio-Efik, also known as Ibibio and Efik, is the major dialect cluster of the Benue–Congo language family called Cross River. Efik proper has national status in Nigeria and is the literary standard of the Efik languages, though Ibibio proper has more native speakers.-Varieties:Efik is a dialect...

 has more native speakers.

Varieties

Efik is a dialect cluster spoken by about 3½ million people of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State

Cross River State

Cross River State is a coastal state in southeastern Nigeria, bordering Cameroon to the east. Its capital is at Calabar, and it is named for the Cross River , which passes through the state...

s of Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, making it the sixth largest language cluster in Nigeria after Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, and Kanuri. Specifically, there are 1 million Anaang (as of 1990); possibly 1½ to 2 million Ibibio

Ibibio people

The Ibibio are a people of southeastern Nigeria. They are related to the Anaang and the Efik peoples. During colonial period in Nigeria, the Ibibio Union asked for recognition by the British as a sovereign nation . The Annang, Efik, Ekid, Oron and Ibeno share personal names, culture, and traditions...

 (1998, claim since retracted)—Ibibio is also used as a trade language; and 400,000 Efik; Efik also has about 2 million second-language speakers.

Minor varieties, according to Williamson and Blench, are 200,000 Ekit, 7,000 Efai, 20,000 Ibuoro, 5,000 Eki, 5,000 Idere, and a hundred Ukwa. These arguably constitute a single language, though Ethnologue

Ethnologue

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...

considers them to be separate.

Forde and Jones (1950) had categorized these as follows:

• Ibibio proper (incl. Idere etc.): Eastern Ibibio
• Annang: Western Ibibio
• Efik: Riverain Ibibio
• Eket (Ekit) and Oron: Southern Ibibio
• Ibeno (Ibino): Delta Ibibio
• Enyong (now classified as Ibibio proper): Northern Ibibio

Further reading

• O. E. Essien (1991): "The nature of tenses in African languages: a case study of the morphemes and their variants." In: Archiv Orientalni, Bd. 59, 1–11.
• Dafydd Gibbon, Eno-Aasi E. Urua und Moses Ekpenyong (2006): "Problems and solutions in African tone language Text-To-Speech." In: ISCA Workshop on Multilingual Speech and Language Processing (MULTILING 2006), Stellenbosch, South Africa: Center for Language and Speech Technology, Stellenbosch University, paper 014.
• Raymond G. Gordon, Hrsg. (2005): "Ethnologue: Languages of the World", Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-159-X
• Kaufman, Elaine Marlowe (1972) Ibibio dictionary. Leiden: African Studies Centre
  Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden
  The African Studies Centre is an independent scientific institute in the Netherlands that undertakes social-science research on Africa with the aim of promoting a better understanding of historical, current and future social developments in Sub-Saharan Africa. The present director is Ton Dietz...
  
  / Cross River State University / Ibibio Language Board. ISBN 90-70110-46-6
• Arne Bachmann (2006): "Ein quantitatives Tonmodell für Ibibio. Entwicklung eines Prädiktionsmoduls für das BOSS-Sprachsynthesesystem." Magisterarbeit, University of Bonn.
• Eno-Abasi E. Urua (2004): "Ibibio", Nr. 34/1 in Journal of the international phonetic association, International phonetic association, Kap. Ibibio. 105–109.

External links

• Uyo Ibibio Dictionary, 2004
• My Ibibio – language resources, including dictionary, books, proverbs, stories and history.
• PanAfrican L10n wiki page on Efik, Ibibio and Anaang
• Bachmann's Master Thesis, Paper, Presentation
• BOSS-IBB documentation v0.1-r4