Ishan, also written Esan, is an Edoid language of the Niger-Congo family, spoken by the Esan people of Edo State in southern Nigeria, in towns such as Uromi, Ekpoma and Irrua. It is closely related to Edo, also called Bini, the language of nearby Benin City. Speaker estimates vary widely, from several hundred thousand up to around a million, partly because many ethnic Esan now use English or Nigerian Pidgin day to day. The language is tonal and has a number of local varieties, generally named after the towns where they are spoken. Esan is written in the Latin alphabet, though written use remains limited and English dominates schooling in the area. Esan communities are found in Nigerian cities such as Lagos and Abuja, and in the diaspora, including Britain.
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