🇳🇬 Language

Nyifon

Evidence: Multiple sources

Nyifon, also called Iordaa, is the little-documented language of the Nyifon people of Buruku LGA, Benue State. It is thought to be Jukunoid.

Key facts
Type
Language
Belongs to
Jukunoid
Glottocode
nyif1234
Overview

Sources disagree on its status. Glottolog lists Nyifon as a dialect of Wapan, a Jukun language. Blench's Atlas gives no classification data beyond 'said to be Jukunoid', and Wikipedia notes that Ethnologue does not list it.

Connections
Other names
  • Iordaa · alternative
    Given by Blench's Atlas and Wikipedia.
Figures

Each figure is shown with its year and source. Where sources differ, all figures are listed.

MeasureFigureYearSource
Speakers 1,000 (estimate) — An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (2020 edition)
Sources
  1. 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: Nyifon (Iordaa): Buruku LGA, Benue State; said to be Jukunoid
  2. Nyifon language — Wikipedia · link (accessed 24 Sep 2026)
    Supports: Poorly known Jukunoid language of Buruku LGA
  3. Glottolog 5.3 — languoid catalogue — Glottolog (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) · link (accessed 24 Sep 2026)
    Supports: Nyifon nyif1234 listed as a dialect of Wapan (Jukunoid)

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

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