Contents

Volta–Niger languages

Volta–Niger
West Benue–Congo or East Kwa
Geographic distribution	West Africa, from Eastern Ghana to central Nigeria
Linguistic classification	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Congo Volta–Niger
Subdivisions	Akpes Ayere–Ahan Gbe yeai (= Defoid+) noi ?Ukaan
Glottolog	None
Map cut-out of Volta-Niger family of languages area, with most of the languages bounded by the Volta river, in modern-day Ghana, and the Niger river, found in modern-day Nigeria

The Volta–Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue–CongoorEast Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger–Congo language family, with perhaps 70 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and southeast Ghana: Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, and Gbe.

These languages have variously been placed within the KwaorBenue–Congo families or, starting in the 1970s, combined with them altogether. Williamson & Blench (2000) separate the languages here called Volta-Niger from the others. Güldemann (2018) fails to see clear criteria for dividing the languages into two or three families and maintains the broad grouping and name of Benue-Kwa for all them.

Branches[edit]

The constituent groups of the Volta–Niger family, along with the most important languages in terms of number of speakers, are as follows (with number of languages for each branch in parentheses):^{[according to whom?]}

The Yoruboid languages and Akoko were once linked as the Defoid branch, but more recently they, Edoid, and Igboid have been suggested to be primary branches of an as-yet unnamed group, often abbreviated yeai. Similarly, Oko, Nupoid, and Idomoid are often grouped together under the acronym noi. Ukaan is an Atlantic–Congo language, but it is unclear if it belongs to the Volta–Niger family; Blench suspects it is closer to Benue–Congo.

In an automated computational analysis (ASJP4) by Müller et al. (2013):^[1]

• Gbe and Yoruboid are subsumed within Kwa.
• Edoid and Cross River group together.
• Akpes and Ukaan group together.
• Oko is grouped within Idomoid.

Branches and locations[edit]

Below is a list of major Volta–Niger branches and their primary locations (centres of diversity) in Nigeria based on Blench (2019).^[2]

Comparative vocabulary[edit]

Sample basic vocabulary in different Volta–Niger branches:

Numerals[edit]

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:^[16]

See also[edit]

• Systematic graphic of the Niger–Congo languages with numbers of speakers

References[edit]

• Güldemann, Tom (2018). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. Berlin Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-042166-8.
• Wolf, Paul Polydoor de (1971) The Noun Class System of Proto-Benue–Congo (Thesis, Leiden University). The Hague/Paris: Mouton.
• Williamson, Kay (1989) 'Benue–Congo Overview', pp. 248–274 in Bendor-Samuel, John & Rhonda L. Hartell (eds.) The Niger–Congo Languages — A classification and description of Africa's largest language family. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.
• Williamson & Blench (2000) 'Niger–Congo', in Heine & Nurse, African Languages