Abé language

Abé (also spelled Abbé, Abbey, Abi) is a language of uncertain classification within the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo family. It is spoken in Ivory Coast.

Abé
Region	Ivory Coast
Ethnicity	Abbé
Native speakers	300,000 (2017)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Kwa Abé
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aba
Glottolog	abee1242

The dialects of Abé are Tioffo, Morie, Abbey-Ve, and Kos.

In 1995 there were estimated to be 170,000 speakers, primarily in the Department of Agboville.

Phonology

Consonants

Abé Consonants^[2]

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal	Labiovelar
Voiceless stops	p	t	c	k		kp
Voiced stops	b	d	ɟ			gb
Voiceless fricatives	f	s			h
Voiced fricatives	v			ɣ
Nasals	m	n	ɲ
Laterals		l
Trill		r
Glides			j			w

Vowels

Abé Vowels^[2]

	Front ATR	Front RTR	Central	Back ATR	Back ATR
High	i	ɪ		u	ʊ
Mid	e	ɛ	(ə)	o	ɔ
Low			a

Abé demonstrates a tendency towards vowel harmony, with regards to both placement (front vs. back) and +/-ATR. /a/ does not participate in this system.^[2]