Ega language

Ega
Native to	Ivory Coast
Region	near Gly or Gli, Sud-Bandama region
Native speakers	2,500 (2001)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo (unclassified) Ega
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ega
Glottolog	egaa1242[2]

Ega, also known as Egwa and Diés, is a language of uncertain affiliation within the Niger–Congo language family spoken in Ivory Coast. It does not appear to belong to any of the traditional branches of Niger–Congo. Though traditionally assumed to be one of the Kwa languages, Roger Blench conservatively classifies it as a separate branch of the Atlantic–Congo family, pending a demonstration that it is actually related to the Kwa or Volta–Niger languages.

The Ega people are increasing in number, though some are shifting to Dida through intermarriage.

Ega has the full noun class system for which the Bantu languages are known.

References

1. Ega at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Ega". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.