Egene is a member of the Edoid branch of Volta-Niger language family. It has about 211,000 speakers in Rivers State and Bayelsa State in southern Nigeria. The majority of Egene speakers live in the Ahoada West Local Government Area (LGA) in the northwest of Rivers State. It is also spoken in the Yenegoa LGA in the northeast of Balyelsa State. Most Egene-speaking villages can be found along the Engenni River, and also along Taylor Creek.
Egene was formerly known as Engenni, and the people who speak it call it Ẹgẹnẹ. There are four dialects: Ediiro, Zarama, Inedua and Ogua, which are named after the four Egene clans who speak them.
A way to write Egene with the Latin alphabet was devised in the 1930s by the Ira D. Sankey, an American missionary. He produced Egene translations of hymns and parts of the Bible, and an Egene version of the New Testament was published in 1977. A new orthography for Egene was developed by the Nigerian Educational Research & Development Council in 2011.
Download an alphabet chart for Egene (Excel)
0 +za tụu ka aḍịḍe avụ i kunu ḅue ukwo ẹḍya bo avu. Egwe ẹḍya na shini shinumu ka o +za tụu.ka Alịho pa ḍọu ega naa okilolo naa ajiọmu ei ḍiani nazhị ga ọki si nah sụ eḍi . Ọ +bịḍa tụu ka ọ gẹni mọni eḍi avu n ' o ḍei ya ka o i sise agyọmu nah sụ.
O +funu nah te ka ọ gẹni mọni ukwo ẹḍya aḍịḍe na ka ọ kịḍe ọḅo nedi na nah do ẹḍya na wa ḍọu ọgbe. O +gbe ka ọ ì kịḍe ọḅo nukwo ẹḍya na Iba aḍẹ na ka Alịbo si nah do waḍẹ ẹḍya na kana aḍịḍe na ˆ si nah teni teni.
Once upon a time, a rich man had a big farm. The farm was full of yams. Tortoise took his climbing rope, cutlass and his carrier bag. He entered into the bush for palm cutting. As he was scavenging for palm fruit, he saw a ripe bunch. He decided to climb the tree, on top of the tree, he sighted from a far the rich man's yam farm. Tortoise changed his plans, came down to harvest few of the yams in the farm. Everyday Tortoise visited the farm before the owner arrives.
Source: https://www.academia.edu/14525457/The_Egene_Orthography.
Information about Egene
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engenni_language
https://www.academia.edu/14525457/The_Egene_Orthography
http://www.language-archives.org/language/enn
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/enn
Aja, Ayizo, Belanda Viri, Degema, Ebira, Edo, Egene, Ekpeye, Esan, Ewe, Fon, Gen, Gun, Igala, Igbo, Ikwerre, Isoko, Ivbiosakon, Nupe, Ogba, Ososo, Saxwe, Urhobo, Yorùbá
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created: 18.03.25. Last modified: 19.03.25
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