Ikwerre language

Spoken in

Niger - Congo

  • Atlantic - Congo Volta - Niger Igboide languages

Ikw

Ikwere or Ikwerre is a language which is mainly spoken by the people of Ikwere in Nigeria, Rivers State.

In 1973, the number of Ikwere - speakers was estimated according to various reports on about 200,000. Given the population trends in the four local government areas in which Ikwere is spoken (Port Harcourt, Emohua, Obio - Akpor and Ikwerre ), this number can currently (2006 ) are estimated over a million speakers on something.

Dialects of Ikwere are Ndele, Ọgbakiri, Obio, Alụụ, IBAA and Elele; the language is a tonal language and is written in the Latin alphabet.

The assignment of the Ikwere to a language group or the classification of the language as a dialect of the Igbo language is a widely controversial topic in the community of Ikwere and in that of the Igbo people; most linguists place the Ikwere one as a separate language within the group of igboiden languages.

As far richer language Igbo speaker holds a certain dominance in the region, the Ikwere in contrast to the single official language, English has no official status. Most Ikwere speak English as a second language. Already in the time before the British colonial rule Igbo was used as a second language.

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