Languages of Nigeria
A map of languages in Nigeria and neighbouring countries
Official	English
National	Hausa,Igbo,Yoruba
Regional	Ibibio,Efik,Isoko,Edo,Tiv,Gade,Fulani,Idoma,Ijaw,Kamwe,Kanuri,Ukwuani,Ika,Urhobo,Nupe,Gbagyi,Igala,Esan,Etsakor
Vernacular	Nigerian Pidgin
Foreign	Arabic,French
Signed	Nigerian Sign Language Hausa Sign Language Bura Sign Language
Keyboard layout	QWERTY

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There are over 520 native languages spoken inNigeria.^[1][2][3] Theofficial language is English,^[4][5] which was the language ofColonial Nigeria. The English-basedcreoleNigerian Pidgin – first used by the British andAfrican slavers to facilitate theAtlantic slave trade in the late 17th century^[6] – is the most commonlingua franca, spoken by over 60 million people.^[5][7]

The most commonly spoken native languages areHausa (over 63 million when including second-language, or L2, speakers),Yoruba (over 47 million, including L2 speakers),Igbo (over 46 million, including L2 speakers),Ibibio (over 10 million, including L2 speakers),Ijaw cluster (over 5 million),Fulfulde (18 million),Kanuri (7.6 million),Tiv (5 million), and approximately 2 to 3 million each ofNupe,Karai-Karai,Kupa,Kakanda,Edo,Igala,Mafa,Idoma andEfik.^[8] Nigeria's linguistic diversity is amicrocosm of much ofAfrica as a whole, and the country contains languages from the three majorAfrican language families:Afroasiatic,Nilo-Saharan andNiger-Congo. Nigeria also has several as-yetunclassified languages, such asCentúúm, which may represent a relic of an even greater diversity before the spread of the current language families.^[9]

English is the single most widely spoken language in Nigeria, spoken by 60 million of the population.^[10] It is the main lingua franca of the country and there are a growing number of sole English speakers due to rapidurbanisation andglobalisation.^[11] English remains the official language and is the major language of communication in government, business and education.^[11] Furthermore, the national anthem, constitution and pledge are written in English. Almost all mass media transmit information in English.^[12] English became the official language when Nigeria was created from diverse national groups by theBritish Empire.^[12] Despite decolonisation, Nigeria chose to make English the official language to promote national cultural unity^[13] and so not to favour any particular native language.^[12]

Despite its status, English is not widely spoken in rural areas.^[14] Many Nigerians struggle with English, evidenced by the 60 percent fail rate of theWASSCE in English (May/June 2015), an important exam certificate.^[11] Nevertheless, many Nigerians hold negative social attitudes towards the country's native languages, combining to lead to the neglect of Nigeria's many native languages. As such, there are fears from prominent linguists that Nigerian native languages areendangered and face eventual extinction.^[12]

Pidgin, first used by British andAfrican slavers to facilitate theAtlantic slave trade in the late 17th century,^[6] has replaced the native language for many Nigerians. Many Nigerians speakNigerian Pidgin, acreole language based on English, which is a popular social and cultural language.^[12] It has become popular in the mass media and in political slogans.^[15][16][12] According to a 2012 study, the replacement of native local languages with Pidgin is inevitable in the areas studied.^[17]

TheAfroasiatic languages of Nigeria are divided into Chadic, Semitic and Berber.^[18] Among these categories,Chadic languages predominate, with more than 700 languages. Semitic is represented by various dialects ofArabic spoken in the Northeast and Berber by the Tuareg-speaking communities in the extreme Northwest.

TheHausa language is the best knownChadic language in Nigeria; though there is a paucity of statistics on native speakers in Nigeria, the language is spoken by 24 million people in West Africa and is the second language of 15 million more. Hausa has therefore emerged aslingua franca throughout much of West Africa, and the Sahel in particular. The language is spoken primarily amongst Northern Nigerians and is often associated with Islamic culture in Nigeria and West Africa on the whole.

Hausa is classified as aWest Chadic language of theChadic grouping, a major subfamily of Afroasiatic. Culturally, theHausa people became closely integrated with the Fulani following the establishment of theSokoto Caliphate by the FulaniUthman dan Fodio in the 19th century.^{[19][20][21][22]} Hausa is theofficial language of several states in Northern Nigeria and the most important dialect is generally regarded as that spoken inKano, an Eastern Hausa dialect, which is the standard variety used for official purposes.

Eastern dialects also include some dialects spoken inZaria andBauchi; Western Hausa dialects include Sakkwatanchi spoken inSokoto, Katsinanchi in Katsina Arewanchi in bothGobir andAdar,Kebbi andZamfara.Katsina is transitional between Eastern and Western dialects. Northern Hausa dialects includeArewa andArawa, whilstZaria is a prominent Southern version;Barikanchi is apidgin formerly used in the military.

Hausa is a very atypicalChadic language, with a reduced tonal system and a phonology influenced byArabic. Other well-known Chadic languages include Mupun, Ngas, Goemai, Mwaghavul,Bole,Ngizim,Bade and Bachama. In the East of Nigeria and on into Cameroon are the Central Chadic languages such asBura,Kamwe andMargi. These are highly diverse and remain very poorly described. Many Chadic languages are severely threatened; recent searches by Bernard Caron for Southern Bauchi languages show that even some of those recorded in the 1970s have disappeared. However unknown Chadic languages are still being reported, such as the recent description of Dyarim.

Hausa, as well as other Afroasiatic languages such as, Kamwe,^[23]Margi,Karai-Karai andBade (another West Chadic language spoken innortheastern Nigeria), have historically been written in a modifiedArabic script known asajami. However, the modern official orthography is now a romanisation known asboko introduced by the British regime in the 1930s.

Niger–Congo predominates in the Central, East and Southern areas of Nigeria; the main branches represented in Nigeria areMande,Atlantic,Gur,Kwa,Benue–Congo andAdamawa–Ubangi.^[24] Mande is represented by theBusa cluster andKyenga in the northwest.Fulfulde is the single Atlantic language, ofSenegambian origin but now spoken by cattlepastoralists across theSahel and largely in the northeastern states of Nigeria, especiallyAdamawa.

TheIjoid languages are spoken across theNiger Delta region and includeỊjọ (Ijaw), Kalabari, and the intriguing remnant languageDefaka. TheIbibio language is spoken across the coastal southeastern part of Nigeria and includes the dialectsOron,Annang, andEfik proper. The singleGur language spoken is Baatọnun, in the extreme Northwest.

The Adamawa–Ubangian languages are spoken across a region spanning central Nigeria to the Central African Republic. In Nigeria, the westernmost languages of this group are the Tula-Waja languages. The Kwa languages are represented by the Gun group in the far southwest, which is related to the Gbe languages spoken in Benin and Togo.

The classification of the remaining languages is controversial;Joseph Greenberg classified those without noun-classes, such as Yoruba, Igbo, and Ibibio (Efik, Oron, and Annang), as 'EasternKwa' and those with classes as 'Benue–Congo'. This was reversed in an influential 1989 publication and reflected on the 1992 map of languages, where all these were consideredBenue–Congo. Recent opinion, however, has been to revert to Greenberg's distinction. The literature must thus be read with care and due regard for the date. There are several small language groupings in the Niger Confluence area, notably Ukaan, Akpes, Ayere-Ahan and Ọkọ, whose inclusion in these groupings has never been satisfactorily argued.

Former EasternKwa, i.e. WestBenue–Congo would then includeIgboid, i.e.Igbo language proper,Ukwuani,Ikwerre,Ekpeye etc., Yoruboid, i.e.Yoruba,Itsekiri andIgala,Akokoid (eight small languages in Ondo, Edo and Kogi state),Edoid includingEdo (sometimes referred to as) Bini inEdo State,Ibibio-Efik,Idomoid (Idoma) andNupoid (Nupe) and perhaps include the other languages mentioned above. TheIdoma language is classified in the Akweya subgroup of the Idomoid languages of the Volta–Niger family, which include Alago, Agatu, Etulo and Yala languages of Benue, Nasarawa and Northern Cross River states.

EastBenue–Congo includesKainji,Plateau (46 languages, notablyGamai language),Jukunoid,Dakoid and some parts ofCross River. Apart from these, there are numerousBantoid languages, which are the languages immediately ancestral to Bantu. These includeMambiloid,Ekoid ofCross River State,Bendi,Beboid,Grassfields andTivoid languages.

Within the Benue-Congo languages, the expansive Bantu language family which covers much of central and southern Africa is represented in Nigeria by;Jarawa with around a quarter million speakers, making it the most spoken Bantu language in the country. Others includeMbula-Bwazza (100,000),Kulung (40,000),Labir (13,000),Bile and a few others.

The geographic distribution of Nigeria's Niger-Congo languages is not limited to the middle east and south-central Nigeria, as migration allows their spread to the linguistically Afro-Asiatic northern regions of Nigeria, as well as throughoutWest Africa and abroad. Igbo words such as 'unu' for 'you people', 'sooso' for 'only', 'obia' for 'native doctoring', etc. are used in patois of Jamaica and many Central American nations, Yoruba is spoken as a ritual language in cults such as the Santeria in the Caribbean and South-Central America, and the Berbice Dutch language in Surinam is based on an Ijoid language.

Even the above listed linguistic diversity of the Niger–Congo in Nigeria is deceptively limiting, as these languages may further consist of regional dialects that may not be mutually intelligible. As such some languages, particularly those with a large number of speakers, have been standardised and received aromanised orthography. Nearly all languages appear in a Latin alphabet when written.

The Ibibio, Igbo, and Yoruba languages are notable examples of this process. The more historically recent standardisation and romanisation of Igbo have provoked even more controversy due to its dialectical diversity, but the Central Igbo dialect has gained the widest acceptance as the standard-bearer. Many such asChinua Achebe have dismissed standardisation as colonial and conservative attempts to simplify a complex mosaic of languages.

Such controversies typify inter- and intra-ethnic conflict endemic to post-colonial Nigeria. Also worthy of note is the Enuani dialect, a variation of the Igbo that is spoken among parts of Anioma. The Anioma are the Aniocha, Ndokwa/Ukwuani, Ika and Oshimilli of Delta state.Standard Yoruba came into being due to the work ofSamuel Crowther, the first African bishop of theAnglican Church and owes most of its lexicon to the dialects spoken inỌyọ andIbadan.

Since Standard Yoruba's constitution was determined by a single author rather than by a consensual linguistic policy by all speakers, the Standard has been attacked regarding for failing to include other dialects and spurred debate as to what demarcates "genuine Yoruba".Linguistically speaking, all demonstrate the varyingphonological features of the Niger–Congo family to which they belong, these include the use oftone,nasality, and particularconsonant andvowel systems; more information is availablehere.

Below is a list of major Niger–Congo branches and their primary locations based on Blench (2019).^[25]

In addition,Ijaw languages are spoken inRivers State,Bayelsa State, and other states of theNiger Delta region.Mande languages are spoken inKebbi State,Niger State, andKwara State.^[25]

In Nigeria, theNilo-Saharan language family is represented by:

• Saharan languages:
  • Kanuri andKanembu in the northeastern part of Nigeria in the states of Borno, Yobe and parts of Jigawa, and Bauchi states
  • Teda in northern Nigeria
• Songhai languages:
  • Zarma (Zabarma) andDendi inKebbi State,Zamfara State,Sokoto State,Niger State near the border with the neighbouring countries of Niger and northern Benin, also inKaduna State,Yobe State andLagos trading community.

• Central Sudanic languages:
  • Lau Laka, a recently discoveredCentral Sudanic language ofTaraba State

French is compulsory in all schools. In January 2016, theMinister for EducationAnthony Anwukah announced a wish to make French the second language of business in Nigeria because the majority of African countries arefrancophone and all of Nigeria's neighbouring countries are francophone.^[11][26]

This is a non-exhaustive list of languages spoken in Nigeria.^{[27][28][29][30]}

• Niger-Congo languages
• Ethnic groups of Nigeria

• Crozier, David & Blench, Roger (1992)An Index of Nigerian Languages (2nd edition). Dallas: SIL.mbembe language in cross river
• Blench, Roger (1998) 'The Status of the Languages of Central Nigeria', in Brenzinger, M. (ed.)Endangered languages in Africa. Köln: Köppe Verlag, 187–206.online version^{[permanent dead link]}
• Blench, Roger (2002)Research on Minority Languages in Nigeria in 2001.Ogmios.
• Blench, Roger (n.d.)Atlas of Nigerian Languages, ed. IIIArchived 2016-08-06 at theWayback Machine (revised and amended edition of Crozier & Blench 1992)
• Kwache, Iliya Yame (2016) Kamwe People of Northern Nigeria :Origin, History and Culture
• Chigudu, Theophilus Tanko (2017); Indigenous peoples of North clCentral Nigeria Area: an endangered race.
• Blench, Roger (2019).An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
• Emenanjo, E. N. (2019).Four Decades in the Study of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics: A Festschrift for KayWilliamson.
• Lamle, Elias Nankap, Coprreality and Dwelling spaces in Tarokland. NBTT Press. Jos Nigeria in "Ngappak" journal of the Tarok Nation 2005

• African linguistic maps: Nigeria & Cameroun on Muturzikin.com
• Ethnologue listing of Nigerian languages

• Languages of Nigeria

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