🇳🇬 Language

Idoma

Evidence: Multiple sources

Idoma is the language of the Idoma people of southern Benue State, also spoken in Nasarawa State. It is an Idomoid language of the Benue–Congo family; its ISO 639-3 code is idu.

Key facts
Type
Language
Belongs to
Idomoid
ISO 639-3
idu
Glottocode
idom1241
Overview

Roger Blench's Atlas of Nigerian Languages treats Idoma as a cluster of closely related varieties. It lists Agatu (also called Idoma North), Idoma Central (Otukpo), Idoma West and Idoma South (Igumale) among them. The Atlas records a New Testament in Idoma Central from 1970 and a complete Bible from 2014.

Connections
Sources
  1. Glottolog 5.3 — languoid catalogue — Glottolog (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) · link (accessed 24 Sep 2026)
    Supports: Idoma idom1241, ISO idu, Idomoid
  2. An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (2020 edition) — Roger Blench, Kay Williamson Educational Foundation / McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, 2020 · link (accessed 24 Sep 2026)
    Supports: Idoma cluster: Benue State, Otukpo and Okpokwu LGAs; Nasarawa State, Nassarawa and Awe LGAs
  3. Idoma people — Wikipedia · link (accessed 24 Sep 2026)
    Supports: Language of the Idoma, classified Idomoid

Last updated 24 September 2026. Spotted an error or have a source to add? Tell us.

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