Urhobo language
Southwestern Edoid language of Nigeria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Urhobo is a Southwestern Edoid language[2] spoken by the Urhobo people of southern Nigeria.[3] It is spoken in Delta and Bayelsa States.[4][failed verification]
| Urhobo | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Delta State, Edo State |
| Ethnicity | Urhobo |
Native speakers | 1.1 million (2020)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | urh |
| Glottolog | urho1239 |
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,[5] /i e ɛ a o ɔ u/ and /ĩ ẽ ɛ̃ ã ɔ̃ õ ũ/.[6]
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.[5]
- /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 [ɰ̊, 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.[7]
Syntax
Urhobo has the subject–verb–object (SVO) constituent word order as illustrated with the example below:
Òtítí
Otiti
ò
3SG
chó
steal.PST
ọhọ
hen
ná
DET
'Otiti stole the hen.'
