Ekpeye language

Ekpeye
ẹkpeye
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Rivers State
Ethnicity	Ekpeye people
Native speakers	226,000
Language family	Niger–Congo? Volta–West Igbo Ekpeye
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ekp
Glottolog	ekpe1253

Ekpeye is one of many languages spoken in Rivers State. It is spoken by a culturally homogeneous people who are located in different administrative units known as Igbu (Kingdoms). Ikwerre is one of the languages spoken in Rivers State and it is related to Ekpeye. Earlier articles described Ekpeye as having four mutually intelligible dialects classified according to the designations of the different Igbu as Ubie, Akoh, Igbuduya and Upata. The 'four dialects' only have minor differences in lexicon and phonology. In phonology, for example, the only difference is in the use of the alveolar implosive/dh/ by the Ubie and Igbuduya speakers while Akoh and Upata speakers use the alvelar plosive /t/ before a verbal suffix -hwu. It is important to note that the four Igbu mentioned have undergone further divisions.

Writing system

Ekpeye alphabet

a

b

bh

ch

d

dh

e

ẹ

g

gb

gw

h

i

ị

j

k

kp

kw

l

m

n

nw

ny

o

ọ

p

s

sh

t

u

ụ

w

wh

y

z

zh

Phonology

Vowels

Ekpeye has nine vowel phonemes:

Vowels of Ekpeye

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Near-close	ɪ	ʊ
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open	a

The language has no long nasal vowels, no contrast between oral and nasal vowels, and no allophonic variants. The vowels carry tones, as Ekpeye is a tonal language. Ekpeye exhibits active synchronic vowel harmony.

Distribution

• Rivers State: Ahoada East, Ahoada West, and Ogba–Egbema–Ndoni LGAs.
• Imo State: Ohaji/Egbema LGA