Imo is monolingually Igbo, with the Owerri dialect group being the largest single Igbo speech community.
Major languages#
- Igbo (Owerri dialect) — the largest Igbo dialect group; basis for much of modern spoken Igbo.
- Igbo (Mbaise dialect) — distinct prosody.
- Igbo (Oguta / Riverine) — closer to Anioma.
Minor and endangered languages#
- No significant non-Igbo communities (Imo is one of Nigeria's most linguistically homogeneous states).
Lingua francas#
Igbo universal; Pidgin in commercial Owerri; English in schools.
Notable literary and political moments#
- The Owerri dialect carries much of contemporary Igbo highlife and gospel music; Bright Chimezie, Oliver de Coque, Chinyere Udoma all sing in Owerri Igbo.
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.