Tivoid | |
---|---|
Geographic distribution | Southeastern Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon |
Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo? |
Proto-language | Proto-Tivoid |
Language codes | |
Glottolog | tivo1239 |
The Tivoid languages are a branch of the Southern Bantoid languages spoken in parts of Nigeria and Cameroon. The subfamily takes its name after Tiv, the most spoken language in the group.
The majority are threatened with extinction. The largest of these languages by far is the Tiv language for which the group is named; it had 2 million speakers in 1991. The second largest is the Bitare language; it had 110,000 speakers in 2000. Most apart from Tiv are extremely poorly known, and the next best, Esimbi, has not even been demonstrated to be Tivoid.