The Volta-Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue-Congo or East Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger-Congo language family, with perhaps 50 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and southeast Ghana: Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, Fon, and Ewe. These languages have variously been placed within the Kwa or Benue-Congo families, but Williamson & Blench (2000) separate them from both.

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  • The Volta-Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue-Congo or East Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger-Congo language family, with perhaps 50 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and southeast Ghana: Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, Fon, and Ewe. These languages have variously been placed within the Kwa or Benue-Congo families, but Williamson & Blench (2000) separate them from both. The boundaries between the various branches of Volta-Niger are rather vague, suggesting diversification of a dialect continuum rather than a clear split of families. The constituent groups of the Volta-Niger family, along with the most important languages in terms of number of speakers, are as follows (with number of languages for each branch in parenthesis): The Yoruboid languages and Akoko were once linked as the Defoid branche, but more recently they, Edoid, and Igboid have been suggested to be primary branches of an as-yet unnamed group, often abbreviated yeai. Similarly, Oko, Nupoid, and Idomoid are often grouped together under the acronym noi. Ukaan is an Atlantic-Congo language, but it is unclear if it belongs to the Volta-Niger family.
  • Вольта-нигерские языки, известны также как Западные бенуэ-конголезские языки или восточные языки ква — относительно недавно (Williamson & Blench, 2000) выделенная лингвистами из семьи ква семья языков, входящая в макросемью нигеро-конголезских языков. Число носителей составляет около 50 млн. В состав данной семьи входят такие распространённые языки, как йоруба, игбо, эдо (бини), фон и эве. Структура данной семьи до сих пор является дискуссионной, но в целом включает следующие языки: акпес (1 язык) айере (1 язык) Языки гбе (21 язык) фон (2 млн носителей) эве (3 млн носителей) Ветвь «YEAI»: Йорубоидные языки (15 языков) Игала (1 млн. ) Йоруба (22 млн носителей) Эдоидные языки (27 языков) Эдо (бини, 1 млн носителей) акоко (1 язык) Игбоидные языки (7 языков) игбо (18 млн носителей) Ветвь «NOI»: Нупоидные языки (12 языков) Эбира (1 млн носителей) Нупе (1 млн носителей) Око (1 язык) Идомоидные языки (9 языков) идома (600,000 носителей) ? укаан (1 язык) Файл:Nigeria Benin Cameroon languages. png Карта распространения языков вольта-нигерской семьи
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  • Niger-Congo
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    Some important branches of the Volta-Niger and Benue-Congo families are concentrated in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin.
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  • Volta-Niger
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  • West Africa, from Eastern Ghana to central Nigeria
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  • The Volta-Niger family of languages, also known as West Benue-Congo or East Kwa, is one of the branches of the Niger-Congo language family, with perhaps 50 million speakers. Among these are the most important languages of southern Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and southeast Ghana: Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, Fon, and Ewe. These languages have variously been placed within the Kwa or Benue-Congo families, but Williamson & Blench (2000) separate them from both.
  • Вольта-нигерские языки, известны также как Западные бенуэ-конголезские языки или восточные языки ква — относительно недавно (Williamson & Blench, 2000) выделенная лингвистами из семьи ква семья языков, входящая в макросемью нигеро-конголезских языков.
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  • Volta-Niger languages
  • Вольта-нигерские языки
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