Kalabari language

Kalabari
Ibani–Kalabari–Kirike
Native toNigeria
RegionRivers State
EthnicityKalabari, Ibani
Native speakers
(570,000 cited 1989–1995)[1]
Dialects
  • Kalabari
  • Ibani (Bonny)
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
ijn – Kalabari
iby – Ibani
okr – Kirike
Glottologkaki1246
ELPKalabari
 Kirike[2]

Kalabari is an Ijo language of Nigeria spoken in Rivers State and Bayelsa State by the Awome people.[3] Its three dialects are mutually intelligible.[citation needed] The Kalabari dialect (Kalabari proper) is one of the best-documented varieties of Ijo, and as such is frequently used as the prime example of Ijo in linguistic literature.

As of 2005, the language, "spoken by 258,000 people, [was] endangered largely because of the massive relocation that has taken place in the area due to the development of Nigeria's oil industry in the Port Harcourt region."[4]

Berbice Creole Dutch, a recently extinct Dutch Creole formerly spoken in Eastern Guyana, was spoken by descendants of Kalabari speakers. The African element in Berbice Dutch is predominantly Kalabari in origin.[5]

Kalabari-language words have been proposed for some modern technical terms.[6]

  1. ^ Kalabari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Ibani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kirike at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Kirike.
  3. ^ "Kalahari Bibi: Introducing The Kalabari Language". Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  4. ^ "2006 Funded Projects". Endangered Language Fund. Archived from the original on 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  5. ^ "Ijoid languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  6. ^ Iyalla-Amadi, Priye E. (March 2012). "Lexicological Development of Kalabari Language in the Age of Technology: A Comparative Study of French and Kalabari" (PDF). The Journal of Pan African Studies. 5 (1): 154–163. Retrieved 2013-06-15.