Ehueun language

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

Ehuẹun
Native toNigeria
RegionOndo State
Native speakers
14,000 (2000)[1]
Niger–Congo
  • Atlantic–Congo
    • Volta–Niger
      • yeai
        • Edoid
          • Northwestern
            • Osse River
              • Ehuẹun
Language codes
ISO 639-3ehu
Glottologehue1238

Phonology

Ehuẹun 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. The inventory is:[3]

  Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar Glottal
Plosive   b t  d k  ɡ k͡p  ɡ͡b  
Fricative ɸ  β [m] f  v s  z   h
Rhotic   r̝  r        
Approximant ʋ l [n] j   w  

The two rhotics have been described as voiced and voiceless trills. However, Ladefoged[4] found both to be approximants, with the pair being raised (without being fricatives) but not trills.

References
  1. Ehuẹun at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  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
  4. Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-19815-4.


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