| Abstract: |
The Efik and Ibibio languages are lower cross languages spoken in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States
respectively. This study examines the types of mutual intelligibility, the similarities/linguistic distance in
pronunciation and vocabulary of both languages, using the Historical Linguistics theory as a theoretical
frame. Words from Swadesh’s list (1955), Gudschinsky’s (1956), sentence list drawn from the Thomas’
(1992) compilation which was based on Greenberg’s List of Words for African languages and Meussen’s
Bantu Supplement were used to elicit data. Thirty native speakers were selected for this study using random
sampling technique. Finding shows that both languages are symmetric, linguistic distance in the consonant
of both languages is that Efik has the glottal fricative sound [h] which occurs in free variation with the
voiced velar fricative /?/ which are absent in Ibibio, vowels as in / ii, ?, ?, ee, aa, uu, oo, ??/ are absent in
the Efik language. The Efik mid close front vowel [?] does not exist in the Ibibio vowel inventory. The
basic syllable structure of Efik and Ibibio languages are [V or N, CV, CVC]. All other structures are
modifications from these basic forms.Efik and Ibibio has two distinctive tones: high [ ? ] and low [ ? ]. Results
further show that Efik and Ibibio have a higher degree of cognates at 71.7%, non-cognate at 11.9%, and
near cognates at 16.3%. The higher degree of cognates establishes the fact that both speech forms are
dialects of a language that are mutually intelligible to a large extend. The study recommends that a historical
linguistics study on the Efik and Ibibio languages should be carried out. |
EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
