Defaka is an endangered and divergent Nigerian language of uncertain classification.
Blench (2012) notes that "Defaka has numerous external cognates and might be an isolate or independent branch of Niger–Congo which has come under Ịjọ influence.
The next most used language among the Defaka is Igbo, owing to the political influence of the Opobo since the days of the Oil Rivers Trade.
atheeberedogko̘SUBJatheokunafowlɓáámakill:PSTa ebere ko̘ a okuna ɓáámathe dog SUBJ the fowl kill:PSTThe dog killed the fowl (Defaka)[6]obiridogɓétheo̘ɓó̘kō̘fowlɓétheɓám̄kill:PSTobiri ɓé o̘ɓó̘kō̘ ɓé ɓám̄dog the fowl the kill:PSTThe dog killed the fowl (Ịjọ, Kalaɓarị dialect)[6]Also, Defaka has a sex-gender system distinguishing between masculine, feminine, and neuter 3rd-person singular pronouns; this is once again a rarity among south-central Niger–Congo languages other than Ịjoid and Defaka.
[7] While some of the lexical and maybe typological similarities can be attributed to borrowing (as Defaka has been in close contact with Ijọ for more than 300 years), the sound correspondences point to a (somewhat distant) genealogical relationship.
[citation needed] Nearly all Defaka are bilingual in Nkọrọọ, and the phonology appears to be the same as that language.
However, Shryock et al. were not able to measure significant differences in the pitch traces of high–low, low–low, and high–downstep–high, all of which have a falling pitch, suggesting that there may be fewer distinctive word tones than the combinations of syllable tones would suggest.
[13] Shryock et al. analyse the prenasalised stops [mb nd ŋɡ ŋɡ͡b] as consonant clusters with /m/.