LEXICOSTATISTICS

This project aims to examine the lexicostatistical analysis of the Edo and Esan languages, two major languages spoken in Nigeria. The objectives are to determine the level of relatedness of the Edo and Esan languages and also to determine the similarities and contrast vocabularies in both languages. The study also examines the mutual intelligibility between both languages and many others. In the course of this work, the Ibadan 400 words list was used, using the lexicostatistics developed by Morris Swadesh in 1950. The methodology for the research involved both the primary and secondary method. The primary method used in this study is an informal observation and an oral interview with the native speakers of Edo and Esan languages while the secondary method includes; a review of relevant materials on lexicostatistics, dialectology and language variation, Edo language classification and so on. The study also involved collecting lexical data from native speakers of both languages and applying lexicostatistical methods to analyze their lexical similarities and differences. The analysis will focus on
comparing word lists and calculating lexical distances between the two languages using established computational techniques. The findings will provide insights into the linguistic relationship between Bini and Esan, shedding light on their historical developpossible language contact scenarios. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the linguistic diversity in Nigeria and enhances our knowledge of the Edo and Esan languages.