''For Languages to have historical connections, they must either have,
diffusional or genetic resemblance''


If you really want to classify languages under your terms, Mr poster
You will find that the whole world really does speak one language.

The 'Edo' language does not exist, please where are the 1million speaking this language??

chyz:

Im talking about Akoko Edo. There are people there called the Igarras, they are close proximity to the yorubas. They are a small tribe that most likely be consumed by the yoruba. The speak yoruba, name their children yoruba names, even the culture is so interwined with yoruba. Alot of them are of yoruba stock apart from the Igarra tribe. I know people who are Igarra.Go to a Igarra house hold during a gathering and u will hear nothing but yoruba being spoken with a few igarra words here and there.

Well, It's the process called Assimilation, that's not to say they are Yoruba.
If a Monkey wears a suit today and bears the name ''Chyz'', Does that make it a human being?

Gamine:

''For Languages to have historical connections, they must either have,
diffusional or genetic resemblance''


If you really want to classify languages under your terms, Mr poster
You will find that the whole world really does speak one language.

The 'Edo' language does not exist, please where are the 1million speaking this language??

Well, It's the process called Assimilation, that's not to say they are Yoruba.
If a Monkey wears a suit today and bears the name ''Chyz'', Does that make it a human being?

Iidiot, it is a bad attitude for a harlott like you to come up with an analogy in the bolded.

abadaba:

Iidiot, it is a bad attitude for a harlott like you to come up with an analogy in the bolded.

lmao!

What language are the words in the bolded

Gamine:

If you really want to classify languages under your terms, Mr poster
You will find that the whole world really does speak one language.

Well actually you're wrong because most of those languages are distinct and are not based on broad classifications, unless you can prove that every language on this earth can be understood by everyone.

Gamine:

The 'Edo' language does not exist, please where are the 1million speaking this language??

And you're sure about that? The 1 million are right there in Benin City, and the rest are spread about in what is now Edo State.

ezeagu:

Well actually you're wrong because most of those languages are distinct and are not based on broad classifications, unless you can prove that every language on this earth can be understood by everyone.

I didn't say they aren't, I was trying to butress the fact that these languages, however distinct have a parent body.

[Quote] And you're sure about that? The 1 million are right there in Benin City, and the rest are spread about in what is now Edo State.
[/quote]

You have to make a clear distinct between Edo as Bini, and Edo state.
You can't put up 'Edo' as a parent language, that's why I said 'Edo' does not exist.
the language the Bini's speak, is under the Edoid group.
If you are listing Edo here, where are the others from the group??

Gamine:

''For Languages to have historical connections, they must either have,
diffusional or genetic resemblance''


If you really want to classify languages under your terms, Mr poster
You will find that the whole world really does speak one language.

The 'Edo' language does not exist, please where are the 1million speaking this language??

Well, It's the process called Assimilation, that's not to say they are Yoruba.
If a Monkey wears a suit today and bears the name ''Chyz'', Does that make it a human being?

That was a dum.b azz analogy,tighten up

chyz:

That was a dum.b azz analogy,tighten up

Well I'm happy you are happy.

Gamine:

Well I'm happy you are happy.

Thanx sweetie

Gamine:

You have to make a clear distinct between Edo as Bini, and Edo state.
You can't put up 'Edo' as a parent language, that's why I said 'Edo' does not exist.
the language the Bini's speak, is under the Edoid group.
If you are listing Edo here, where are the others from the group??

Bini people are Edo people who speak a dialect of Edo, and it's quite modern.

ezeagu:

Bini people are Edo people who speak a dialect of Edo, and it's quite modern.

Well you contradict yourself, If Bini speak a dialect of 'Edo', Where does Yekhee for example come from?
Yekhee will be a dialect of Edo too, so what's it doing on the list

Let me clarify for you,

Bini people are in Edo state, they speak Edo which is under a larger group, the Edoid family.

Also, the Edoid group (this is what you suggest is in your list) has way more than 1million speakers

Edo is used to describe a people in that region.It is not a language. With in edo state there are the esa, bini, igarra, igbanke,etc. they each speak their own distinct language.

chyz:

Edo is used to describe a people in that region.It is not a language. With in edo state there are the esa, bini, igarra, igbanke,etc. they each speak their own distinct language.

Who are you addressing?

@chyz

I liked that website you pointed to. . .I've been listening to different Nigerian languages and although I don't understand a lot, I think it is something to really invest in.

Yea like everyone said. . .That Bonny-Ijaw is the much maligned Ibani many respondents said on one very popular thread doesn't exist and is a white-man's language. The funny thing that cracks me up with Bonny-Ijaw is the word for welcome. . .In the clip, the guy said I bo ma which means welcome meanwhile in other Ijaw dialects bo ma means don't come. . . the exact opposite!

chyz:

Wow so kukele of the "Ukelle people" is a dialect of the igbo language. I learn something new everyday.I just found a recording of the language.The even use the old Aro name for god, "Ukpabi". Check this out:

http://globalrecordings.net/program/C10171


They've really tried hard to separate us

Are you sure this can be classed as Igbo, considering 'Ukpabi' is Ibibio?

Gamine:

Well you contradict yourself, If Bini speak a dialect of 'Edo', Where does Yekhee for example come from?
Yekhee will be a dialect of Edo too, so what's it doing on the list

Let me clarify for you,

Bini people are in Edo state, they speak Edo which is under a larger group, the Edoid family.

Is there really a difference from what I wrote and what you wrote, apart from calling the Edo Bini, many of them identify as Edo and have done so for a long time. Bini is not an official name for the Edo people which is what their ancestors called themselves.

Gamine:

Also, the Edoid group (this is what you suggest is in your list) has way more than 1million speakers

Well that's why I wrote:

The languages in bold are spoken by 1 million and more and the underlined more than 10 million.

One of the major languages of Nigeria is listed as Edo not Bini.

chyz:

Edo is used to describe a people in that region.It is not a language. With in edo state there are the esa, bini, igarra, igbanke,etc. they each speak their own distinct language.

None of these languages are distinct, they're all dialects of one or more languages. Again, one of the National languages of Nigeria is Edo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_language

If Esan is a dialect, Edo (what you suggest on your list) is a dialect too.

Is the number of people speaking a language (>1million) what qualifies it as a 'distinct' language?
Edo (What the Bini speak) is the most widely spoken of the Edoid, that doesn't place it higher than the others
I really do not like these kind of misleading posts.
How many people in present day Edo state speak this?
My people, do not, they only pick it up because they go to live in the 'city'

Well, What can I expect from Google-Education.

Sigh

B.L: It's either the classification system is wrong or the list is incomplete

ow11:

@chyz

I liked that website you pointed to. . .I've been listening to different Nigerian languages and although I don't understand a lot, I think it is something to really invest in.

Yea like everyone said. . .That Bonny-Ijaw is the much maligned Ibani many respondents said on one very popular thread doesn't exist and is a white-man's language. The funny thing that cracks me up with Bonny-Ijaw is the word for welcome. . .In the clip, the guy said I bo ma which means welcome meanwhile in other Ijaw dialects bo ma means don't come. . . the exact opposite!

No one said it doesn't exist. Where did you get that from
What was said was that Ubani(Bonny) Igbo is spoken by the majority of the people.

ezeagu:

Are you sure this can be classed as Igbo, considering 'Ukpabi' is Ibibio?

Ibibio people do not live in Ogoja nor in Abakiliki.

Gamine:

If Esan is a dialect, Edo (what you suggest on your list) is a dialect too.

Is the number of people speaking a language (>1million) what qualifies it as a 'distinct' language?
Edo (What the Bini speak) is the most widely spoken of the Edoid, that doesn't place it higher than the others
I really do not like these kind of misleading posts.
How many people in present day Edo state speak this?
My people, do not, they only pick it up because they go to live in the 'city'

Well, What can I expect from Google-Education.

Sigh

B.L: It's either the classification system is wrong or the list is incomplete

The post is really easy to understand if you want to understand it. First off the list was never represented as a full list and there were no official count of languages in the first post, the post clearly states that the list below includes languages spoken by more than 50,000 people, more than 1 million people and 10 million people. Isn't it obvious that there may be languages that have less than 50,000 speakers and were therefore left off the list? Where in the post was the list represented as languages that are "higher than the other"? What is a better reliable source, a poster from nairaland, or a well sourced website?

What do your people speak, and is it a distinct language?

Obiagu1:

Ibibio people do not live in Ogoja nor in Abakiliki.

What does that have to do with language?

ezeagu:

The post is really easy to understand if you want to understand it. First off the list was never represented as a full list and there were no official count of languages in the first post, the post clearly states that the list below includes languages spoken by more than 50,000 people, more than 1 million people and 10 million people. Isn't it obvious that there may be languages that have less than 50,000 speakers and were therefore left off the list? Where in the post was the list represented as languages that are "higher than the other"? What is a better reliable source, a poster from nairaland, or a well sourced website?

What do your people speak, and is it a distinct language?

''There are less than 70 languages in Nigeria'' and you posted 60.
It's like you don't understand what YOU wrote.

There is a clear difference between 'Distinct' and 'Dialects' from your post. obviously
the Distinct languages are the source of the dialects, thereby making them 'higher'

Why don't you leave the website to do the explanation and stop misleading people.
For example you commented on someone's post that Esan is a dialect (which you decided to ignore)
I've gone to the site, and it bears no resemblance to your post.


As you would have noticed, I'm only concerned about particular languages because
i believe I have more knowledge than you do on them.

Gamine & Ezeagu, the reason why you two are even going back and forth like this is because you're electing to use the terms "language" and "dialect", which have specific non-linguistic connotations of their own. In reality, there is no difference between a "language" and a "dialect". That's why linguists are increasingly favoring the term "lect". In fact, linguists have this aphorism for "language" that says: a language is [nothing more than] a [dia]lect with an army and a navy (or something along those lines).

So, in the field of linguistics, no one speaks a "language", but everyone speaks a lect and the promotion of a lect to a "language" (or, the demotion a lect to a "dialect" is influenced by socio-political factors.

Take Yoruba for example. I hear that "Yoruba language" is based off Oyo, who had an empire over what we now know as "Yoruba territory" (if I'm not mistaking). The Oyo were the elites, and their empire influenced the rise of their lect to the status of "language" (it's all socio-politics). Edo is in that same situation, I believe.**

Long story short, this discussion has its roots more in socio-politics than in linguistics. If it were solely based on linguistics, that list would then have to be more appropriately labelled as "distinct linguistic groupings" rather than "distinct languages".

Just my thoughts on the semantics of this discourse.

**Do correct me if I am wrong.

Gamine:

''There are less than 70 languages in Nigeria'' and you posted 60.
It's like you don't understand what YOU wrote.

Less than 70 didn't give a fixed amount of languages, so I know I didn't write any fixed amount of languages or even imply there's a fixed amount.

Gamine:

There is a clear difference between 'Distinct' and 'Dialects' from your post. obviously
the Distinct languages are the source of the dialects, thereby making them 'higher'

Isn't it more of your perception than what I actually wrote with letters? I didn't write anything with higher and any 'level' that anyone can see from languages is up to them.

Gamine:

Why don't you leave the website to do the explanation and stop misleading people.

No, I will leave my post here, and if you don't like the information then you can go anywhere else to get your information. There's no part of the thread that has claimed to be official and I never said everyone must believe it.

Gamine:

For example you commented on someone's post that Esan is a dialect (which you decided to ignore)
I've gone to the site, and it bears no resemblance to your post.

The language lineage of Esan is:

Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Edoid, North-Central, Edo-Esan-Ora. The fact that it is Edoid made me put it under the Edo languages as there's no such thing as Esanoid. The important part of the lineage is when it leaves regions and enters the main language groupings.

Gamine:

As you would have noticed, I'm only concerned about particular languages because
i believe I have more knowledge than you do on them.

That's fine, you can open your own thread if you have more knowledge, but I'm going to keep to what I originally said and that is there are less than 70 languages in Nigeria, some Nigerian founding fathers have even counted less and some of these so called distinct languages have speakers who identify them as dialects including linguists. As far as I'm concerned you haven't shown me otherwise. Many have seen the thread so it's up to them to take the information and do what they want with it.

@Chinenye N

ChinenyeN:

Gamine & Ezeagu, the reason why you two are even going back and forth like this is because you're electing to use the terms "language" and "dialect", which have specific non-linguistic connotations of their own. In reality, there is no difference between a "language" and a "dialect". That's why linguists are increasingly favoring the term "lect". In fact, linguists have this aphorism for "language" that says: a language is [nothing more than] a [dia]lect with an army and a navy (or something along those lines).

So, in the field of linguistics, no one speaks a "language", but everyone speaks a lect and the promotion of a lect to a "language" (or, the demotion a lect to a "dialect" is influenced by socio-political factors.

Take Yoruba for example. I hear that "Yoruba language" is based off Oyo, who had an empire over what we now know as "Yoruba territory" (if I'm not mistaking). The Oyo were the elites, and their empire influenced the rise of their dialect to the status of "language" (it's all socio-politics). Edo is in that same situation, I believe.**

Long story short, this discussion has its roots more in socio-politics than in linguistics. If it were solely based on linguistics, that list would then have to be more appropriately labelled as "distinct linguistic groupings" rather than "distinct languages".

Just my thoughts on the semantics of this discourse.

**Do correct me if I am wrong.

I understand what you mean though. My issue with the classification as posted on this thread
Is the claim that all those on the list are 'Distinct languages'

The Bini's have always held the ruling power therefore it would seem there was a distinct 'Edo'
language, while the others remain as 'dialects'

I disagree with yout list. Etsako should be a distinct language. There are many dialects of etsako itself. If you think that etsako is in a dialect of the language spoken in Benin then you are wrong o

Outstrip:

I disagree with yout list. Etsako should be a distinct language. There are many dialects of etsako itself. If you think that etsako is in a dialect of the language spoken in Benin then you are wrong o

Exactly.

This language issue is very confusing.I just learnt today that some ijaws say "vare" for come and in my dialect of igbo we use "bare" for come.It is very difficult to determine a specific zone as the purest of a language group.I'm however of the school of thought that every dialect groups at opposite edge of a language group that still retain similarity as well as relative mutual intelligibility belong to the same larger language group.example is ikwerre, ezza and ika dialects of igbo.they all use "ali" for land.further inland ani,ana and ala are more common.in their sub-dialects eli and eni replaces ali and ani.Just an instance.
The danger however lies in the swallowing up of the smaller dialect groups by a generalized form of the larger language group.The Igboid classification has only two languages Igbo and Ekpeye.

Outstrip:

I disagree with yout list. Etsako should be a distinct language. There are many dialects of etsako itself. If you think that etsako is in a dialect of the language spoken in Benin then you are wrong o

How about this, provide a (reliable) source that doesn't place 'Etsako' under the Edo language and proves that it is a distinct language spoken by more than 50,000 people I'll add it to the list. That is fair, right? Until then the list stays the same.

Gamine:

The Bini's have always held the ruling power therefore it would seem there was a distinct 'Edo'
language, while the others remain as 'dialects'

It seems many people cannot separate language from ethnicity and politics.

ezeagu:

It seems many people cannot separate language from ethnicity and politics.

Everything is political.

ezeagu:

It seems many people cannot separate language from ethnicity and politics.

That's because the term itself ["language"] has associated socio-political connotations (the realm where ethnicity & politics reside).

Gamine:

http://www.naijablog.co.uk/2010/09/on-nigerian-languages.html

What are you trying to say?

ezeagu:

What are you trying to say?

Really dumb post

Gamine:

Really dumb post

Why don't you remove the link then?