Urhobo language
South-Western Edoid language of Nigeria
| Urhobo | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Delta State, Edo State |
| Ethnicity | Urhobo people |
Native speakers | 1.1 million (2020)[1] |
Language family | Niger–Congo?
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | urh |
| Glottolog | urho1239 |
| This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. | |
Urhobo is a South-Western Edoid language[2] spoken by the Urhobo people of southern Nigeria.[3][4] It is from the Delta and Bayelsa States.[5]
Phonology
Urhobo has a rather reduced system of sound inventory compared to proto-Edoid. The inventory of Urhobo consists of seven vowels; which form two harmonic sets,[6] /i e ɛ a o ɔ u/ and /ĩ ẽ ɛ̃ ã ɔ̃ õ ũ/.[7]
It has a conservative consonant inventory for an Edoid language. It maintains three nasals, and only five oral consonants, /ɾ, l, β̞, j, w/, have nasal allophones before nasal vowels.[6]
| Labial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio-velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | (n) | ɲ | ŋ͡m | |||
| Plosive | p b | t d | d͡ʒ | kʲ ɡʲ | k ɡ | k͡p ɡ͡b | |
| Fricative | ɸ | f v | s | ʃ | (ç ʝ) | x ɣ | |
| Trill | r̥ r | ||||||
| Flap | (ɾ̥ ɾ) | ||||||
| Lateral | l ~ n | ||||||
| Approximant | β̞ [β̞̃ ] | (ɹ̥ ɹ) [ɹ̃] | j [j̃] | (ɰ ɰ̥) | w [w̃] |
- /l/ is interchangeable with [n] only before nasal vowels.
- /d͡ʒ/ can be heard as [ɟ͡ʝ ~ ʝ] before non-front vowels.
- Nasal consonants /m, [n], ɲ, ŋ͡m/ can have allophones of nasalized approximants as [β̞̃], [ɹ̃ ~ ɾ̃], [j̃], [w̃].
- Approximants /β̞, j, w/ are heard as nasalized approximants [β̞̃, j̃, w̃] before and after nasal vowels.
- Velar fricatives /x, ɣ/ can vary from being heard as [x, ɣ] to lowered fricatives [x̞, ɣ̞] and approximants [ɰ̥, ɰ]. /x/ can also be heard as a palatal fricative [ç] before /i/.
- Rhotics /r̥, r/ may have different realizations as alveolar or retroflex, and can be articulated as approximants [ɹ̥, ɹ, ɻ̊, ɻ], or taps [ɾ̥, ɾ, ɽ̊, ɽ]. A retroflex lateral flap [ɭ̆] can also be heard in syllable-final position.
According to Anthony Ukere, Urhobo has two tones, a high tone and a low tone. These can also combine to form rising and falling tones.[8]
Syntax
Urhobo has the SVO constituent order type as illustrated with the example below:
Òtítí
Otiti
ò
3SG
chó
steal.PST
ọhọ
hen
ná
DET
Òtítí ò chó ọhọ ná
Otiti 3SG steal.PST hen DET
‘Otiti stole the hen.’
References
- ^ Urhobo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Elugbe, B. O. 1989. Edoid: Phonology and Lexicon. Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press.
- ^ "Nigeria | History, Population, Flag, Map, Languages, Capital, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
- ^ "Supplemental Information 3: An excerpt from Data Downloads page, where users can download original datasets". doi:10.7717/peerj.9467/supp-3.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Bayelsa State Government – The Glory of all Lands". Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b Rolle, N. 2013. “Phonetics and phonology of Urhobo.”UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report, 2013: 281-326.
- ^ Archangeli & Pulleyblank, 1994. Grounded phonology, p 181ff
- ^ Ukere, Anthony Obakpọnọvwẹ. 1986. Urhobo-English dictionary. Benin City: Ilupeju Press.
General references
- Frank Kügler, Caroline Féry, Ruben Van De Vijver (2009) Variation and Gradience in Phonetics and Phonology
- Okrokoto Ebireri. Ukoko re Ephere R'Urhobo
Urhobo language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
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