Ukue language

Summary

Ukue (Epinmi) is an Edoid language of Ondo State, Nigeria. It is sometimes considered the same language as Ehuẹun.

Ukue
Native toNigeria
RegionOndo State
Native speakers
14,000 (2000)[1]
Niger–Congo?
  • Atlantic–Congo
    • Volta–Niger
      • yeai
        • Edoid
          • Northwestern
            • Osse River
              • Ukue
Language codes
ISO 639-3uku
Glottologukue1238

Phonology edit

Ukue has a rather reduced system, compared to proto-Edoid, of seven vowels; these form two harmonic sets, /i e a o u/ and /i ɛ a ɔ u/.[2]

The language arguably has no phonemic nasal stops; [m, n] alternate with [β, l], depending on whether the following vowel is oral or nasal. Unusually, it has fricatives but no sibilants. The inventory is:[3]

  Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar Glottal
Plosive   b t̪  d̪ t  d k  ɡ k͡p  ɡ͡b  
Fricative f  v   h
Rhotic*          
  r        
Approximant β [m] l [n] j   w  

(*See Edo for a likely interpretation of the two rhotics.)

References edit

  1. ^ Ukue at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Archangeli & Pulleyblank, 1994. Grounded phonology, p 181ff
  3. ^ Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 136ff;
    also found in Variation and gradience in phonetics and phonology, p 26ff