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 70 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria , Benin , Togo , and southeast Ghana : Yoruba , Igbo , Bini , and Gbe .
4-552: Igboid languages constitute a branch of the Volta–Niger language family. Williamson and Blench conclude that the Igboid languages form a "language cluster" that are mutually intelligible . Igboid languages are being spoken by over 40 million people. Below is a list of language names, populations, and locations from Blench (2019). Benue State , Okpokwu LGA [REDACTED] This article incorporates text available under
8-508: The CC BY 3.0 license. Volta%E2%80%93Niger These languages have variously been placed within the Kwa or Benue–Congo families or, starting in the 1970s, combined with them altogether. Williamson & Blench (2000) separate the languages here called Volta-Niger from the others. Güldemann (2018) fails to see clear criteria for dividing the languages into two or three families and maintains
12-586: The Defoid branch, but more recently they, Edoid, and Igboid have been suggested to be primary branches of an as-yet unnamed group, often abbreviated yeai . Similarly, Oko, Nupoid, and Idomoid are often grouped together under the acronym noi . Ukaan is an Atlantic–Congo language, but it is unclear if it belongs to the Volta–Niger family; Blench suspects it is closer to Benue–Congo . In an automated computational analysis ( ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013): Below
16-866: The broad grouping and name of Benue-Kwa for all them. The constituent groups of the Volta–Niger family, along with the most important languages in terms of number of speakers, are as follows (with number of languages for each branch in parentheses): Akpes (1) Ayere–Ahan (2) Gbe (21: Fon [2 million], Ewe [3 million], Adja [550,000], Phla–Pherá languages [600,000]) Yoruboid ( Igala [1 million], Yorùbá [47 million], Ede languages [800,000], Itsekiri [800,000]) Edoid (27: Edo [2 million], Urhobo [2 million], Isoko [420,000], Esan [300,000], Etsako [270,000]) Akoko (1) Igboid (7: Igbo [40 million], Ikwerre [2 million]) Nupoid (12: Ebira [1 million], Nupe [1 million]) Oko (1) Idomoid (9: Idoma [600,000]) ? Ukaan (1) The Yoruboid languages and Akoko were once linked as
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