Ijo languages refer to a group of Niger-Congo languages predominantly spoken in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The term "Ijo" is also used to designate the ethnic group that speaks these languages. The Ijo languages are part of the larger Ijoid branch of the Niger-Congo language family, which also includes the Defaka and Kalabari languages.
These languages are characterized by their tonal nature, having several distinctive tones that affect the meaning of words. Phonetically, they feature a rich inventory of consonant and vowel sounds, making use of nasalization, glottalization, and other phonetic phenomena.
The Ijo languages are noted for their complex grammatical structures, particularly their noun class systems where nouns are categorized into different classes, each with its own concord markers. These languages also exhibit subject-verb agreement and utilize aspect and tense markers in their verbal morphology.
Lexically, the Ijo languages have a diverse vocabulary, rich in terms related to the natural environment, riverine activities, and cultural aspects. Given their geographical location, these languages also have borrowings from other nearby Niger-Congo languages, as well as from English and Portuguese.
Despite the linguistic diversity within the Ijo languages, they share certain structural characteristics that distinguish them from other Niger-Congo languages, highlighting their unique place within the language family.
