Igboid

Igboid refers to a group of related languages within the Volta–Niger branch of the Niger-Congo language family. They are spoken by the Igbo peoples and related communities primarily in southeastern Nigeria, with smaller communities in neighboring countries and by the Igbo diaspora.

The best-known Igboid language is Igbo itself; many other varieties exist within the Igboid subgroup. The languages form a continuum with varying levels of mutual intelligibility across dialects and communities.

Linguistically, Igboid languages are tonal and largely analytic, with SVO as the typical basic word order. They share features common to Volta–Niger languages, such as complex tone systems and relational markers; vocabulary and pronunciation vary among varieties.

Igbo uses a Latin-based script with several standardized orthographies, and other Igboid languages have their own orthographies developed through linguistic and educational efforts. The ISO 639-3 code for Igbo is ibo.

Igboid languages are the subject of ongoing linguistic research; while Igbo has millions of speakers, some smaller Igboid varieties have smaller speaker bases and face endangerment without active language maintenance efforts. The classification of some varieties is still a subject of scholarly discussion.