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Likpe language

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Likpe
Sekpele
Sεkpεlé
Native toGhana
RegionOti Region, north of Hohoe
Native speakers
23,000 (2003)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3lip
Glottologsekp1241
ELPSekpele
Likpe
PersonƆkpεlé
PeopleBakpεlé
LanguageSεkpεlé

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

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Consonants

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Consonants[2]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar
Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t k kp ʔ
voiced b d 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

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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

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

Notes

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  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

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  • 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

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  • 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.
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