Oron (state) - Language

Language

The Oron people speak a dialect known as "Örö" by the Oronians, but widely called "Oron", an anglicized spelling and pronunciation. Oro language is a very distinct language spoken and understood only by Oron people. The only group who understand a little of our language are the Ekid, Ibeno and Obolo people of the state. Many Oron people are also fluent in the Efik dialect. Örö has many dialectical similarities with the Ibibio and Annang people, hence many Oronians can communicate proficiently in Ibibio and Annang languages.

The phonemes of Oron comprise seven oral vowels í, ε, e, a, o, σ, u, five plosive consonants b, kp, d, t, k, three nasal consonants m, ŋ, n, three fricative consonants f, s, h, two semi-vowel consonants w, y and one lateral consonant l. The lateral consonant is an unusual feature of Oro and it is not found in most neighbouring varieties.

The Oron language does not possess any affixes or verb forms to express passive actions; 'he is received' becomes 'they receive him'. Finally, it may be noted that the relative order of the simple Oron sentence is subject-verb-object (D. Simmons, 1956: Oron Verb Morphology).

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