- Ikwerre (dialect)
Infobox Language
name=Ikwerre
pronunciation= [ìkʷérré]
region=Nigeria
speakers=>980,000
familycolor=Niger-Congo
fam1=Niger-Congo
fam2=Atlantic-Congo
fam3=Volta-Congo
fam4=Benue-Congo
fam5=Igboid
script=Latin alphabet
iso2=nic
iso3=ikwIkwerre (also Ikwere or Ikwerri) is an
Igboid language of theIkwerre people spoken by over 980,000 people (according to the 1991census ) inNigeria . Ikwere is one of the major languages spoken in Rivers State of Nigeria.Phonology
Vowels
Ikwerre distinguishes vowels by quality (frontedness and height), the presence or absence of
nasalization , and the presence or absence ofadvanced tongue root .There is also a vowel IPA|/ə̃/, which may be realized as IPA| [ɨ̃] or a syllabic nasal whose articulation is determined by adjacent consonants.Vowel harmony
Ikwerre exhibits two kinds of
vowel harmony :
#Every vowel in an Ikwere word, with a few exceptions, agrees with the other vowels in the word as to the presence or absence ofadvanced tongue root .
#Vowels of the same height in adjacent syllables must all be either front or back, i.e. the pairs IPA|/i/ & IPA|/u/, IPA|/ɪ/ & IPA|/ʊ/, IPA|/e/ & IPA|/o/, and IPA|/ɛ/ & IPA|/ɔ/ cannot occur in adjacent syllables. Vowels of different heights, however, need not match for frontness/backness either. This doesn't apply to the first vowel in nouns beginning with a vowel or with IPA|/ɾ/, and doesn't apply to onomatopoeic words.Consonants
The tap IPA|/ɾ/ may sometimes be realized as an approximant IPA| [ɹ] .
IPA|/ḅ ʼḅ l ɾ j ɰ w h hʷ/ are realized as IPA| [m ʼm n ɾ̃ j̃ ɰ̃ w̃ h̃ h̃ʷ] , respectively, preceding a nasal vowel.
Tone
Ikwerre is a
tonal language .References
*cite journal |last=Clements |first=George N. |coauthors=Osu, Sylvester |year=2005 |title=Nasal harmony in Ikwere, a language with no phonemic nasal consonants |journal=Journal of African Languages and Linguistics |volume=26 |pages=165–200
*cite book |last=Williamson |first=Kay |year=1970 |title=Reading and writing Ikwerre |location=Ibadan |publisher=Institute of African StudiesExternal links
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ikw Ethnologue report for language code:ikw]
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