Ifè language

Ifẹ̀
Native toTogo, Benin
Native speakers
271,000
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Tschetti
  • Djama
  • Datcha
Latin
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3ife
Glottologifee1241

Ifè (or Ifɛ) is a Yoruboid language spoken by some 271,000 ethnic Ana-Ife people in Togo, Benin and Ghana. It is also known as Ana, Ana-Ifé, Anago, Baate and Ede Ife. It has a lexical similarity of 87%–91% with Ede Nago.

In Togo, there are three major varieties based on the towns of Atakpame (Djama variant), the Dassa variant is spoken in Dadja town, and a third one is based in Kamina. In Benin, the language is based on the dialect of Tchetti. Like all the other dialects of Yoruba, Ife has three tones; (High, Mid and Low). Many speakers of Ife are bilingual in Ewe in the south of Togo and Standardized Yoruba (SY) in the North.

On the converse, Ede Ife is in turn used as a second language (L2) by speakers of; Bago-Kusuntu and Kpessi in Togo, those of Anii in Benin, as well as the Northern Nago and Aguna speakers in both countries.

The Yoruboid dialect spoken in the Cantons of Goubi and Kaboli in the Tchamba Prefecture of the Central Region, although sometimes erroneously considered to be one and same with Ife, is simply another Yoruba linguistic community of the Manigri-Kambole variety located to the north of the Ifes with which it shares 87-91% lexical similarity.