Igbine

Igbine is a Niger‑Congo language spoken by a small community in southeastern Nigeria, mainly in the coastal district adjacent to Lagos State. Estimates place the number of native speakers at around 15,000, although the exact figure is uncertain because many speakers also use Yoruba or English in daily life. The language belongs to the Bantu subgroup of the Niger‑Congo family, but its precise classification remains disputed; some linguists place it in the Central‑Bantu branch, while others regard it as a member of the poorly attested Oti‑Volta group. Igbine displays typical Bantu characteristics such as a noun‑class system, agglutinative morphology, and a subject‑verb‑object word order. It also retains certain archaic features that are uncommon among other West African Bantu languages.

Historical accounts suggest that Igbine speakers were originally semi‑nomadic pastoralists who settled along the western Niger River corridor. Over the last few decades the community has become increasingly urbanised. Bilingualism in Yoruba and Igbo is common, and these languages have influenced Igbine’s lexicon and phonology. Academic work on Igbine began in the 1980s with a descriptive grammar by linguist Henry Afke, followed by phonological analyses by Ernest G. Peter in the early 2000s. The language possesses a two‑tone system and a six‑class noun system, with marked agreement on verbs and adjectives. Because younger generations are shifting toward Yoruba, Igbine has been classified as vulnerable. Recent community‑driven documentation projects have been initiated in the early 2020s to preserve the language and produce teaching materials.