Okpe is an Edoid language of Nigeria spoken by the Urhobo people.
Phonology
The sound system is rather conservative, and nearly the same as that of Urhobo. The vowels system is the same, and somewhat reduced compared to proto-Edoid: there are seven vowels, /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/.[2] Of the consonants, only significant differences are the addition of /ɣʷ/ and of the distinction between l vs n and y vs ny: these alternate, depending on whether the following vowel is oral or nasal. /ɾ, ʋ, w/ also have nasal allophones before nasal vowels.
| Labial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio-velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | l [n] | j [ɲ] | ||||
| Plosive | p b | t d | c ɟ | k ɡ | k͡p ɡ͡b | ||
| Fricative | ɸ | f v | s z | ɕ ʑ | ɣ | ɣʷ | h |
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Flap | ɾ | ||||||
| Approximant | ʋ | l [n] | j [ɲ] | w |
References
- ^ Okpe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Idesa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Archangeli & Pulleyblank, 1994. Grounded phonology, p 181ff
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