Yoruba is a widely spoken Niger-Congo language, primarily in southwestern Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. It belongs to the Volta-Niger branch of the Niger-Congo language. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Yoruba are Edo, Zande, Igbo, Twi, and Luba-Kasai, although it is quite unique.
- Edo (35.1)
Edo is spoken primarily in southern Nigeria. Like Yoruba, it belongs to the Volta-Niger branch of the Niger-Congo language family, making it one of the closest linguistic relatives of Yoruba. Edo and Yoruba share numerous cognates and similar tonal structures. Additionally, there are many historical connections between the Yoruba and Edo peoples through the ancient Benin and Oyo empires. - Zande (34.3)
Interestingly enough, the Zande language, spoken in Central Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo), belongs to the Ubangian language family, which differs from Yoruba’s Niger-Congo classification. However, Zande and Yoruba have some similar words. For example, the word for night is oru in Yoruba and yoru in Zande. Interactions between these groups over centuries may have influenced their similarities. - Igbo (30.1)
Spoken predominantly in southeastern Nigeria, Igbo is another Niger-Congo language on this list. It shares a close relationship with Yoruba, though the two languages belong to different subgroups within the Volta-Niger branch. They share numerous loanwords and grammatical structures, reflecting the historical and cultural interactions between the Yoruba and Igbo peoples. - Twi (27.6)
Twi, a widely spoken Akan language in Ghana, belongs to the Kwa subfamily of the Niger-Congo language family, making it somewhat related to Yoruba. Twi and Yoruba share similarities in their use of tones, verb structures, and some vocabulary. Additionally, the historical migration patterns of West African peoples have contributed to linguistic overlaps between Yoruba and Akan languages like Twi. - Luba-Kasai (25.9)
Luba-Kasai is a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While Bantu languages generally belong to a different subgroup within the Niger-Congo family, Luba-Kasai shares some roots of words with Yoruba. However, due to geographical distance and historical divergence, Yoruba and Luba-Kasai are not mutually intelligible but still retain traces of common ancestry.
(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people)