Top 10 Most Spoken Languages 2019
6 SharesNigeria as a country which comprises of different ethnic groups, tribes, cultures and languages. Although, there are some of these languages that are popular in Nigeria as well as their tribes.Just in case you are asked, What is the most spoken language in Nigeria?, this post will expose the popular languages in Nigeria and give reasons why they are.Language is what we use to communicate on a daily basis and it is the only means by which humans can understand each other. There are about 6500 spoken languages in the world according to data made available online. There are different dialects for the Hausa speaking people as it is tone language that can be differentiated by the consonants and vowels sound. We have the Eastern Hausa called “Guddiri”, while others include Western Hausa, the Southern Hausa and the Kano Hausa, which is the general dialect spoken.States were Hausa is spoken includes: Sokoto, Kastina, Kaduna, Kano, Zamfara, Bauchi, Kebbi, Jigawa, and Gombe states. IgboIgbo is the second most spoken language in Nigeria with about 23 million natives of Igbo descent.The Igbo language is a branch of the Niger-Congo language line with a varying degree of high pitch sound and low tones when speaking.
This help to differentiate grammatical meanings as opposed to other Nigerian languages.Since the Igbo speaking tribe are vast, they also have a number of dialects which can be differentiated by accent but understood by the majority that resides in the south eastern region of the country. Some of these Igbo dialects include the Idemili, Owerri, Bende, Ngwa, Umuahia, Onitsha, etc.States were Igbo is spoken includes: Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo states and some parts of Akwa Ibom, Rivers and some parts of Delta states.ALSO READ: 3. YorubaYoruba is the native language of the Yoruba tribe and is the third most popular language in Nigeria.
It is spoken by the people from the western part of the country.Yoruba language is another major language spoken in Nigeria today especially among the south western geopolitical zone of the country. Yoruba is also spoken by parts of Benin and Togo in Western Africa.
The Top 10 Most Spoken Languages in the World. Mandarin Chinese (1.1 billion speakers). Number of native speakers: 897 million. Number of non-native. Oct 9, 2018 - What are the world's most spoken languages? Can you believe that within three generations, 10 percent of the world's population will be able. Top languages by population Ethnologue (2019, 22nd edition). The following 90 languages are listed as having at least 10 million first language speakers in the 2019 edition of Ethnologue, a language reference published by SIL International, which is based in the United States.
The Yorubas are said to have descended from Oduduwa with an estimated population of 20 million people living in the its land. States that makes up the Yoruba land in south-western Nigeria include: Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Lagos, Osun and some parts of Kwara state.There are also various dialects as indigenes from Ibadan speak differently from those in Ondo or Abeokuta and so on respectively.States that speaks Yoruba includes Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara, Ekiti and some parts in Kogi State.
FulfuldeFulfude is mostly spoken by the Fulani tribe found in the Nothern parts of the country. They are mostly cattle rearers and live a normadic life.Fulani & Fulfulde is another West African language spoken by the Fula people residing in the Northern part of the country and also from Senegal, Cameroon, Sudan nearing the Arab world.People often confuse them with the Hausas which is not so as they are different from each other. There are also varying dialects for the Fulfulde speakers as the western part use dialect called Pulaar or Poular, while eastern use Fulfulde.With an estimate of 1 million speakers, places were they are found includes Zaria, Katsina, Kano, Jos, Bororo, Sokoto and Maiduguri. KanuriThose who speak this popular Nigerian language are over 7 million in number. Some are Nigerians, others are either Chadians or even Cameroonians.Kanuri is also not similar to Hausa (the most commonly spoken language in northern Nigeria) in terms of culture and accents.Those who speak the Kanuri language mainly originated from the Central Saharan tribe.With about 2.5 speakers, Kanuri is one of Nigeria’s most spoken languages.
States were kaniri is spoken includes: Jigawa, Yobe and Borno States. IjawOne of the major languages of the Niger delta.
It is spoken by about two million people that resides in Delta, Bayelsa and some parts of Ondo and Ekiti states. Pidgin EnglishOn a personal note, i would love to have tagged Pidgin English as the official language of Nigeria because it is virtually spoken by all and sundry in the country.Pidgin English is a mixture of English and other Nigerian ethnic languages. Well for states that mostly speak pidgin, I would give it to the south south states most especially Warri. TivTiv is spoken by almost 2 million people in Nigeria, majorly from Benue State and also in Plateau and parts of Taraba state.ALSO READ: 9.
Most Spoken Languages
IbibioMostly spoken in Akwa Ibom by about 1.3 million people. EdoEdo is one of the ancient languages in Nigeria and is spoken by the Edo people i.e about one million people. This makes Edo one of the most popular Nigerian language.The above are the languages mostly spoken in Nigeria but Interestingly, the major languages as we were taught in primary school are Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa.One thing I noticed is that, there has been a decline in the usage of this popular Nigerian languages as it is going extint due to western influence.Finally, for record purposes, if asked What is the official language spoken in Nigeria? Please its English as we were colonized by the British.