Ibibio language
| Ibibio | |
|---|---|
| (Ibibio proper) | |
| Native to | Southern Nigeria |
| Region | Akwa Ibom State |
| Ethnicity | Ibibio |
|
Native speakers
|
1.5 to 2 million (1998) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | ibib1240 |
Ibibio (proper) is the native language of the Ibibio people of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, belonging to the Ibibio-Efik dialect cluster of the Cross River languages. The name Ibibio is sometimes used for the entire dialect cluster. In pre-colonial times, it was written with Nsibidi ideograms, similar to Igbo, Efik, Anaang, and Ejagham.
Intervocalic plosives are lenited:
Between consonants, /i, u, o/ have allophones that are transcribed [ɪ, ʉ, ə], respectively. At least in case of [ɪ, ə], the realization is probably somewhat different (e.g. close-mid [e, ɘ]), because the default IPA values of the symbols [ɪ, ə] are very similar to the normal realizations of the Ibibio vowels /i, ʌ/. Similarly, [ʉ] may actually be near-close [ʉ̞], rather than close [ʉ].
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