whilst genetically, the itsekiris are a complex mixture of the many different ethnicities and races that have settled in their area, however, the itsekiri language is very closely related to the ilaje and other south-eastern yoruba dialects and to the igala. it has also been influenced significantly by the bini, portuguese and english languages due to centuries of interaction with people from those nations. however, it remains a key branch of the yoruboid family of languages even retaining archaic or lost elements of the proto yoruba language due to its relative isolation in the niger-delta where it developed away from the main cluster of yoruba language dialects.