Ekpeye language

Ekpeye language is one of many Igbo dialects spoken in Rivers State, Nigeria. According to Roger Blench, Ekpeye is classified as an Igboid language.^[3] The Ogba and Ikwerre dialects are closely related to Ekpeye.

Ekpeye
ẹkpeye[1]
Native to	Nigeria
Region	Rivers State
Ethnicity	Ekpeye people
Native speakers	226,000[citation needed][2]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Niger yeai Igboid Ekpeye
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ekp
Glottolog	ekpe1253

Writing system

Ekpeye alphabet^[1]

a

b

bh

ch

d

dh

e

ẹ

g

gb

gw

h

i

ị

j

k

kp

kw

l

m

n

nw

ny

o

ọ

p

s

sh

t

u

ụ

w

wh

y

z

zh

Phonology

Vowels

Ekpeye has nine vowel phonemes:

Vowels of Ekpeye

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Near-close	ɪ	ʊ
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open	a

The language has no long nasal vowels, no contrast between oral and nasal vowels, and no allophonic variants. The vowels carry tones, as Ekpeye is a tonal language. Ekpeye exhibits active synchronic vowel harmony.^[1]

Distribution

• Rivers State: Ahoada East, Ahoada West, and Ogba–Egbema–Ndoni LGAs.
• Imo State: Ohaji/Egbema LGA