 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (October 2024) |
| Defaka | |
|---|---|
| Afakani | |
| Défàkà | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Rivers State, Opobo–Nkoro |
| Ethnicity | Defaka |
Native speakers | 200 (2001)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | afn |
| Glottolog | defa1248 |
| ELP | Defaka |
Defaka is an endangered and divergent Nigerian language of uncertain classification. It is spoken in the Opobo–Nkoro LGA of Rivers State, in the Defaka or Afakani ward of Nkọrọ town and Ịwọma Nkọrọ.[2] The low number of Defaka speakers, coupled with the fact that other languages dominate the region where Defaka is spoken, edges the language near extinction on a year-to-year basis. It is generally classified in an Ijoid branch of the Niger–Congo family.[3] However, the Ijoid proposal is problematic. Blench (2012) notes that "Defaka has numerous external cognates and might be an isolate or independent branch of Niger–Congo which has come under Ịjọ influence."[4][self-published source]
- ^ Defaka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- ^ "Did you know Defaka is severely endangered?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ Blench, Roger. "Niger-Congo: an alternative view" (PDF).