Editing Defoid languages (section)

{{Short description|Proposed branch of the Benue–Congo language family}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=Defoid
|acceptance=
|region=[[Nigeria]], [[Benin]] and [[Togo]]
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=[[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]]
|fam3=[[Volta–Congo]]
|fam4=[[Benue-Congo]]
|child1=[[Yoruboid languages|Yoruboid]]
|protoname='''Proto-Defoid'''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bC9tDwAAQBAJ&q=proto+defoid&pg=PA78|title=The numeral system of Proto-Niger-Congo: A step-by-step reconstruction|isbn=9783961100989|last1=Pozdniakov|first1=Konstantin|date=31 August 2018}}</ref>
|child2=[[Akoko language|Akoko]]
|child3=[[Ayere–Ahan languages|Ayere-Ahan]]
|glotto=defo1239
|glottorefname=Defoid
}}

The '''Defoid languages''' are a proposed branch of the [[Benue–Congo language family]]. The name of the group derives from the fact that nearly all of the ethnic groups who speak member languages refer to the city of [[Ile Ife|Ilé Ifè]] as their place of origin: "Defoid" comes from ''èdè'' ('language') + ''ifè'' (Ife) + ''-oid''. It was first proposed by Capo (1989),<ref>{{cite book |last=Capo |first=H. B. C. |year=1989 |chapter=Defoid |editor=Bendor-Samuel, J. |title=The Niger-Congo Languages: A classification and description of Africa's largest language family |location=Lanham |publisher=University Press of America |pages=275–290}}</ref> but evidence for it is still regarded as insufficient by Güldemann (2018).<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Africa|last=Güldemann|first=Tom|editor-last=Güldemann|editor-first=Tom|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|chapter=Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa|year=2018|edition=|isbn=978-3-11-042606-9|doi=10.1515/9783110421668-002|location=Berlin|pages=58–444|series=The World of Linguistics series|volume=11 |quote= Capo’s (1989a) claim about a larger Defoid family including [Yoruboid,] Owon-Arigidi and Ayere-Ahan remains doubtful because of the insufficient empirical support provided for this hypothesis (p. 168).}}</ref>

The Defoid language group consists of three branches, [[Yoruboid]], [[Akoko language|Akoko]] and  [[Ayere–Ahan languages|Ayere-Ahan]].