Igbo

1 CLASSIFICATION AND WHERE SPOKEN

Igbo represents a dialect continuum, belonging to the Igbo Group of Kwa. Igbo is spoken in most of Anambra State, northern Rivers State, and also in Midwestern State, all in the lower Niger River Basin area of Nigeria. Igbo is often spelled "Ibo."

2 NUMBER OF SPEAKERS

WTPR (1982) notes 13 million first-language Igbo speakers. Voegelin and Voegelin (1977) state there are "well over 3 million speakers" of Igbo. Herault (1981) estimates 8 million.

3 USAGE

Igbo is a national language, also widely used in primary schools as a medium of instruction.

4 DIALECT SURVEY

There are individual efforts in Igbo dialectology; Ubahakwe (forthcoming: see bibliography) includes a survey of Igbo dialects.

5 ORTHOGRAPHY STATUS

Igbo has an official orthography established in 1961; everything published in Igbo is in this orthography.

Ganda (oluGanda, Luganda) (B-8)

1 CLASSIFICATION AND WHERE SPOKEN

Ganda (oluGanda, Luganda) belongs to the Nyoro-Ganda family of Bantu (Guthrie E15) and is spoken north of the northwestern shore of Lake Victoria in Buganda Province, Uganda.

2 NUMBER OF SPEAKERS

Estimates range from 838,000 by Voegelin and Voegelin (1977) to 1.5 to 2 million speakers (Heine 1970).

3 USAGE

Ganda is a regional language in Uganda, the official vernacular language of education in many school districts, and a lingua franca. Broadcasts are heard in Uganda. The Roman Catholic Church of Uganda publishes Musizi in Luganda.

4 DIALECT SURVEY

No dialect survey is known to us at this time.

5 ORTHOGRAPHY STATUS

A standardized orthography for Ganda was devised in 1947. The present status of this orthography is unknown.

MENDE/BANDI/LOKO (B-20)

1 CLASSIFICATION AND WHERE SPOKEN

Mende, Bandi, and Loko belong to the southwestern group of Mande and are spoken in Sierra Leone/Liberia, northeastern Liberia, and north-central Sierra Leone, respectively.

2 NUMBER OF SPEAKERS

Figures are incomplete for this group. UBS (1982) notes 76,000 Loko speakers and 40,000 Bandi speakers. WTPR (1978) notes 940,000 Mende speakers in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

3 USAGE

Mende is a regional lingua franca and first language in southern Sierra Leone; it is one of the four major languages of Sierra Leone. Bandi and Loko are local first languages.

4 DIALECT SURVEY

No thorough dialect survey has come to our attention. Dwyer reports that Mende, Bandi, and Loko "stand on the dividing line between being distinct languages and being dialects."

5 ORTHOGRAPHY STATUS

No standard orthography exists for any of these languages, although Mende is supported by a sizable dictionary.