Kpwe language
| Kpwe | |
|---|---|
| Mokpwe | |
| Native to | Cameroon |
| Ethnicity | Kpwe, Mboko |
Native speakers | (25,000 cited 2000–2014)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:bri – Kpwebqm – Mboko (Wumboko)kme – Kole (Bakole) |
| Glottolog | mokp1239 Mokpwewumb1241 Wumbokobako1250 Bakole |
A.21,22,231[2] | |
| ELP | Bakole |
| People | Bekpak |
|---|---|
| Language | Rikpa |
Kpwe (Mokpwe) is a Bantu language of Cameroon. It is mutually intelligible with Kole, and probably with Mboko (Wumboko) as well.
There are multiple variants of the name: based on 'Kpwe' (Bakpwe, Mokpwe), on 'Kpe' (Mokpe), on 'Kweɾi' (Kwedi, Kweli, Kwili, Kwiri, Bakwedi, Bakwele, Bakweri, Vakweli, Bekwiri), as well as Ujuwa and Vambeng.
Phonology
The Kpwe phonological inventory is as follows,[3]
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | a | |
Consonants
| Bilabial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋʷ · ŋm | ||
| Plosive | prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᶮdʒ | ᵑɡ | ᵑɡb |
| voiced | (b) | dʒ | (ɡ) | ɡb | ||
| voiceless | (p) | t | k | kp | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | ɸ | ||||
| voiced | β | |||||
| Rhotic | zr§ | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||
§/zr/, the 'liquidized alveolar fricative', may be realized as [zr], [ʒr], [rz] or [rʒ]. This sound is rendered /s/ in some sources, and is cognate to /s/ in Bubia.
/p/ and /ɡ/ in parentheses are only found in loans, while /b/ is very uncommon and in many inflections freely alternates as [w].
Tone
Kpwe contrasts five tones on short syllables: high, downstepped high, low, rising and falling.
References
- ^ Kpwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Mboko (Wumboko) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kole (Bakole) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Atindogbé (2013) A grammatical sketch of Mòkpè (Bakweri), African Study Monographs, Suppl. 45: 5–163