Edekiri languages

{{Short description|Branch of the Yoruboid Languages}} {{Infobox language family |name=Edekiri |region=Togo, Benin and Nigeria |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic–Congo |fam3=Volta–Niger |fam4={{sm|yeai}} |fam5=Yoruboid |child1=Ede |child2=Itsekiri |child3=Mokole |child4=Ulukwumi |child5=Yoruba |glotto=edek1238 |glottorefname=Edekiri }} The '''Edekiri''' is a group of languages in the Volta-Niger branch of the Niger-Congo family.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Bamidele|first=Oluwabukola Omolara|date=2019|title=The /h/ Phenomenon: Over Generalised or Confused? The Nigerian Yoruba-English Speakers as a Case Study |degree=PhD|location=University of West Virginia}}</ref> The Niger-Congo language family, and by extension the Edekiri languages, formed a cohesive linguistic unit as far back as the end of the Upper Paleolithic 11,000 years ago.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The group includes: *the Ede dialect cluster, including Ife<ref name="Ethnologue">{{cite web|title=Edekiri |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/292/ |website=Ethnologue |access-date=March 10, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Frawley|first=William|title=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2003|page=422}}</ref> *Itsekiri<ref name=Ethnologue/> *Lucumi language, which is spoken in Cuba<ref name=Ethnologue/> *the Nago languages<ref name=Ethnologue/> *the Yoruboid languages Ulukwumi and Mokole<ref name=Ethnologue/> *Yoruba, with approximately 40 million speakers in Nigeria and several million more in the diaspora.{{cn|date=April 2026}} ==See also== *Yoruboid languages

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Yoruboid languages