Ondo is Yoruba-speaking but contains some of the most distinctive Yoruba dialects.
Major languages#
- Yoruba (Ondo dialect) — Ondo town; archaic features (e.g. *aghan* for *awon*).
- Yoruba (Akure dialect) — central Ondo.
- Yoruba (Owo dialect) — northern Ondo.
- Yoruba (Ilaje and Ikale dialects) — coastal; influenced by Itsekiri and Ijaw.
- Yoruba (Idanre) — distinctive highland dialect, often grouped with Ife.
Minor and endangered languages#
- Apoi — small Ijaw-related community in Ese-Odo.
Lingua francas#
Yoruba universal; English in schools; Pidgin in Ondo town and along the coast.
Notable literary and political moments#
- The Owo dialect of Yoruba was used by Akinwumi Isola (Ibadan playwright, 1990s) as a model of 'high' literary Yoruba; the Ondo dialect carries some of the oldest Yoruba lexical features.
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.