Cross River State is home to two indigenous African writing systems — Nsibidi (Ejagham) and the modern Mbe orthography — and dozens of Cross River branch languages.
Major languages#
- Efik — the prestige Lower-Cross language; lingua franca of Calabar and the lower Cross River.
- Ejagham (Ekoi) — Ikom, Etung; carries Nsibidi.
- Bekwarra — Obudu axis; Niger-Congo Bendi branch.
- Bette-Bendi — Obudu Plateau.
- Yala — Yala LGA; closely related to Idoma.
Minor and endangered languages#
- Mbembe, Bahumono, Loko, Kiong — middle-Cross languages, several with under 5,000 speakers.
- Korop, Efut, Qua — Calabar-area minorities.
Lingua francas#
Efik in the south; Pidgin universally; English in schools.
Notable literary and political moments#
- Hugh Goldie's *Dictionary of the Efik Language* (1862) and the Efik Bible (1868) established Efik as the literary standard of the eastern Niger Delta.
- Nsibidi pictographs — used by Ekpe and Ekpo secret societies — are believed to be one of West Africa's two indigenous scripts (with Vai of Liberia).
Sources & further reading#
- Ethnologue: Languages of Nigeria (SIL).
- Roger Blench, *An Atlas of Nigerian Languages* (3rd ed., 2019).
- Ayo Bamgbose, *Language and the Nation* (1991).
- UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.