scholes0:
@OP look at it this way, the closeness btw the aboriginal Igalas (Akpoto) & Yoruba is ancestral. A result of both groups descending from the same ancestors in deep prehistory that is soo old that nobody recorded it. The relationship between Igala & Igbo you friend talks about is as a result of geographical closeness/inter-relationship along border areas & some culture rubbing off each other. There r even igalas in today's SE. So actually, depending on the Igala u ask, there are varying degrees of closeness with neighbors. Some Igalas will tell u they r closest to Agatu/Idoma, some will tell u it is Bassa-Nge/Nupe. These are all location induced relatedness.

Igala looks like heavily modified archaic Yoruba.

Many of the words are the same. For those that are not exactly the same, I observed the following changes/modifications.

1) I noticed keenly that they have evolved to replace nasal vowel (Añ, Eñ, Iñ, Oñ, Uñ Etc) endings in Yoruba with their open oral vowel equivalents.
Because Yoruba has 7 oral and 7 nasal vowels... but seems Igala has only oral ones.

* And also some consonant mutation in Igala , i.e (R to L), (L to N), (J to Bÿ), (S to R/L) etc....
Here are some RULES:

Rule A*: Nasal vowel ending words in Yoruba to open vowel ending in Igala. Middle diphthong eliminated when present
Jeuñ (eat) - Jeñwu
Igbiñ (snail) - Igbi
Ohuñ (thing) - Eñwu
Eyiñ (tooth) - Eñyi
Ọkuñ (illipede) - Ọkọ
Eguñ (ancestors) - Egwu
Oguñ (medicine) - Ogwu
Fuñfuñ (white) - Fufu
Fañ (blow) - Fa
Agañ (barren) - Aga
Kañ (sour) - Ka
Okañ (one) - Oka
Oduñ (year) - Odo
Agbañ (chin) - Agba
Ouñ (he/she/it) - Oñwu
Ofuñ (throat) - Ofa
Oyañ (breats) - Eñya
Idiñ (maggot) - Ide
Ekuñ (leopard) - Eko
Tituñ (new) - Tito

Rule B* Consonant mutation R to L and vice versa
Kekere (small) - Kekele
Irawo (star) - Ilawo
Iri (dew/mist) - eli
Olu (lord) - Onu
Ro (cultivate) - Lo
Olamide (name) - Uramide
Iru (seed) - ilu
Akere (toad) - Akele
Ra (buy) - La
Erira (ants) - Elila
Ri (see) - Li
Ora (fat) - Ula
Oruñgbe (thirst) - Olugbe

Rule C* Consonant mutation S to R/L
Ese (leg) - Ere
Eso (fruit) - Ero
Se (block) - Re
Sø (throw) - Rø

Rule D* Consonant mutation S and SH to CH
It seems like the “Sh” sound in absent in some Igala dialects , and they replace with a 'CH'... These dialects that lack the the SH sound seem to have become the standard for the whole of Igala.

Sheyi (done this) - Cheyi
Oshu (moon) - Ochu
Ishu (yam) - Uchu
Ashe (authority) - Ache
Isha (pot) - Ucha
Shu (defecate) - Chu

Rule E* Consonant mutation J to BŸ
Aja (dog) - Abya
Eje (seven) - Ebye
Ẹjɛ (blood) - Ẹbyɛ

Rule F* Consonant mutation W to GW just like in the South-Eastern Yorubaland dialects
Ewa (beans) - Egwa
Ku (die) - Kwu
Gun (pound) - Gwu
Ekun (cry) - Ekwu
Oogun (sweat) - Uugwu
Wɛ (wash/bath) - Gwɛ

Rule G*: Consonant mutation L to N
Oluku (friend) - Onukwu
Ile/Ale (land) - Ane
Ale (night) - Ane
Ala (dream) - Ona
Ola (tomorrow) - Ona

Rule A* + B*
Eriñ (four)- Ele
Oruñ (neck) - Olu
Iruñ (hair) - Ilo
Aruñ (five) - Alu
Oruñ (sun) - Olu
Eruru (ashes) - Elulu

Rule A* + C*
Esañ (nine) - Ela
Suñ (sleep) - Lu

Rule A* +D*
Eshiñshiñ (housefly) - Achichi

Rule A* + F*
Egunguñ (bone) - Ogwugwu
Iguñnu (vulture) - Ugwunu
Oguñ (twenty) - Ogwu

Rule A* +G*
Olokuñriñ (man) - Onokele
Olobiñriń (woman) - Onobule

Rule B* + C*
Sure (run/hasten) - Rule

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Minor differencess with irregular rules
Bayii (like this) - Abayii
Øbɛ (soup) - Øbø
Owo/Ogho (money) - Oko
Wo/Gho (look) - Go
Ijo (dance) - Ido
Monamona (lightening) - Omamañya
Oru (midnight) - Odu
Iwowo (nudity) - Owowo
Eru (slave) -Adu
Ehoro (rabbit) - Efolo
Adiye (hen) - Ajuwe
Akuko (coc.k) - Ayiko

And finally,False friend cognates
Yo in Yoruba = Fully fed
Yo in Igala = Plump / Fat

Du in Yoruba - To contest an object
Du in Igala - To take an object

Oyuñ in Yoruba = Pregnancy
Oyu in Igala = Fat

Ebo in Yoruba - Sacrifice
Ebo in Igala - Deity

Edø in Yoruba = Liver
Edø in Igala = Heart/Chest

Wewe in Yoruba = Pieces
Uwewe in igala = Many

ilɛ in Yoruba = Earth (as in land)
ilɛ in Igala = Earth (as in the planet)


There are many countless words that are exactly the same in both languages and need no further elucidation, since we are focusing more on what has made the two languages different over time.
That being said, there are many other words too that are very different... Hence the reason why Igala shares approximately only about 64% or so word cognates with the General Yoruba we speak. The 40% that do not align between both is already enough to make inter-comprehension between both very hard... The biggest chunk of non Yoruboid words in Igala is from the neighbouring Idoma according to some research.

With this, I would give a Yoruba - give or take 6 months to master this language under complete exposure like going to live in Idah or Dekina.

Yoruba is Igala Pro Max. Once you master the grammatical rule of thumb in the formula required to convert from one dialect gloss to the other gloss ... you will master the language sharply.

SweetPreeq:
Ftc