Ubaghara language

Ubaghara
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Cross River State
Native speakers	(30,000 cited 1985)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Cross River Upper Cross Central North–South Ubaghara–Kohumono Ubaghara
Language codes
ISO 639-3	byc
Glottolog	ubag1245

Ubaghara is an Upper Cross River language of Nigeria. Most speakers (Biakpan, Ikun, Ugbem, Etono, Utuma) of the language use the principal Biakpan dialect or Biakpan Eburutu as it's commonly called. Although classed as an upper cross river language due to a few centuries of lexical proximity to Kohumuno language spoken by the Bahumuno communities of Abi LGA, however Ubaghara is mostly related to both Efik and Qua, and most Ubaghara communities, especially Biakpan and Utuma, speak the Efik language interchangeably. Ubaghara people were originally part of the Itu Clan migration which established the settlements such as Ikot-Ana, Umon, Biakpan, Utuma and Agwagwune around the cross river (oyono, oyomo) area with Biakpan ( Ndito Akpan) spreading between Agwagwune to the north and Utuma and Ikot Ana to the south of the cross river. This is before the Ukwa clan later migrated to the area. However some families of Biakpan continued spreading to Obutong in Old Calabar where they established settlements there for another couple of decades before fleeing back to its ancestral home in Biakpan (Ubaghara) where their other younger Biakpan siblings (Ikun, Etono, Ugbem, Utuma) were still living. In other words, Biakpan share common efik ancestry, making it a distant cousin of the Itu, Adiabo and Obutong clans of the Efik Eburutu.

Dialects

Ubaghara dialects according to Blench (2019):^[2]

• Biakpan
• Ikun
• Etono
• Ugbem
• Utuma

References

1. Ubaghara at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.