Likpe or Sekpele (also Bosele, Mu) is spoken in the mountainous lower part of the Oti Region of Ghana. It belongs to the geographic group of Ghana–Togo Mountain languages (traditionally called the Togorestsprachen or Togo Remnant languages) of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants[2]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar		 Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t tʃ k kp ʔ
voiced b d dʒ g gb
Fricative f s ʃ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Approximant l j w
  • /p/ and /g/ are rare.[2]
  • Clusters include ⟨Cl⟩, ⟨Cw⟩, and ⟨Cy⟩.[2]

Vowels

Oral vowels[2]
Front Central Back
[-round] [+round]
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ œ ɔ
Open a
Nasal vowels[2]
Front Central Back
Close ĩ ũ
Close-mid õ
Open-mid ɔ̃
Open ã

Tones

Likpe has three tones: high, low, and mid.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Likpe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c d e Allen 1980, p. LIK 5.
  3. ^ Allen 1980, p. LIK 1.

References

  • Allen, Edward Jay (1980). "Likpe". In Kropp Dakubu, M. E. (ed.). West African Language Data Sheets. Vol. 2. West African Linguistic Society. pp. LIK 1-LIK 6.

Further reading

  • Ford, Kevin C. (1973). "On the loss of cross-height vowel harmony". Research Review (Institute of African Studies, Legon, Ghana). Supplement 4.
  • Heine, Bernd (1968). Verbreitung und Gliederung der Togo-Restsprachen (in German). Berlin: Reimer.
  • Ladefoged, Peter (1964). A Phonetic Study of West African Languages. London: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 1801799.


Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likpe_language
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