25.08.2026 15:00
The Ubang community, living in Cross River State in southern Nigeria, maintains a very rare linguistic tradition in the world. Women and men living in the same village use different words for everyday objects such as water, stone, and goat, as well as for certain actions. Despite this, both parties can easily understand what each other says.
The unusual language tradition of the Ubang community in Nigeria's Cross River State draws attention because men and women have different vocabularies.
From the outside, the system appears as if two different languages are spoken, but it actually consists of two separate word groups specific to women and men within the same language.
THEY USE TWO DIFFERENT WORDS FOR THE SAME OBJECT
In Ubang, women and men use the same grammatical rules. However, the names of some objects and actions encountered in daily life can change depending on the speaker's gender.
The word women use for water, stone, goat, and various daily activities can differ from the word men use. Despite this, women know what the expressions men use mean, and men know what the expressions women use mean.
Therefore, it is not correct to say that there are two separate languages in Ubang that are mutually unintelligible. According to a report in The Guardian, the system is rather considered as two speech forms of the same language that differ by gender.
BOYS FIRST LEARN WOMEN'S WORDS
One of the most interesting parts of the language tradition in Ubang emerges during childhood.
Since children mostly learn to speak from their mothers, both girls and boys grow up using women's words at an early age.
When boys reach about 10 or 11 years old and start spending more time with their fathers and other men in the village, their way of speaking also changes.
During this process, boys begin to adopt the vocabulary used by men instead of words specific to women. It is noted that the transition is largely completed during adolescence.