Ikwere (a̱lyem)

Ikwere (Iwhuruohna), yet zwa-a̱lyiat Iwhuruohna ja nang Ikwere ba ba̱ shyia̱ di̱ nkap Si̱tet Rivat, Naijeriya, lyiat a̱ni.

Ikwere

a̱lyem, modern language

Tafa	Igboid
A̱byin	Naijeriya
Yet byin-a̱byin	Fam A̱keangtung Mundundung, Imo State, Si̱tet Rivat
Ethnologue language status	5 Developing

Tyei di̱ si̱sa

A̱lyem Ikwere ka yet kap sa Voli̱ta-Nija si̱ kwai lilyem Nija-Kongo jija. Ca̱caat ma̱ng nwuan nwunwuan lulung la̱kzi̱t a̱tyu a̱ghyang nang á̱ ngyei Kay Williamson a̱ni, a̱ ku tsa lyiat nyia̱ lilyem Ikwere, A̱kpeye, ma̱ng Ogba, ku yet lilyem sot jhyiung ja, a̱wot zwa-a̱lyiat ja bah. Ma̱nang gu si̱ kin ngya a̱son ma̱ng nwuan nwunwuan hu a̱ni, a̱mgba̱m ma̱ si̱ hu nang Roger Blench nyia̱ a̱ni, á̱ si̱ khwat lang hu á̱ si̱ nyia̱ da̱ tai la̱kzi̱t lilyem Ikwere, Ogba, Igbo ma̱ng A̱kpeye tyia̱ nhu ku yet "sot lilyem" hwa a̱wot nyia̱ lilyem huni tai fwuong ghyáng.

Fonoloji

A̱tsa̱ntsai

A̱lyem Ikwere ni̱ ghai á̱tsa̱tsai nwunwuat nka di̱n vak yet (shyia̱ a̱zanson ma̱ng shi a̱za), nshyia̱ ku nwai nshyia̱ yei-nzwuai, mbeang nshyia̱ ku nwuai nshyia̱ a̱gba̱ndang a̱nan a̱lyem-a̱bwonu (Advanced tongue root).

		A̱zanson	A̱zama
A̱za	+ATR	i ĩ	u ũ
	−ATR	ɪ ɪ̃	ʊ ʊ̃
A̱ka̱wa̱tyia̱	+ATR	e ẽ	o õ
	−ATR	ɛ ɛ̃	ɔ ɔ̃
A̱tatak	−ATR	a ã

Á̱ bu mbyia̱ a̱nwuat a̱tsa̱ntsai */ə̃/ a̱ghyang nang á̱ nyian ta̱m ma̱ng a̱nka di̱ wa̱i nwunwuat yei-zwua̱i na̱ yet a̱ka̱tyong a̱gha̱ghap a̱ni si̱sak ma̱ng a̱lyiat na nang á̱ ku bwuo nyia̱ a̱lyem ka nwai yei-nzwua̱i yei-yong a̱ni. Á̱ ni̱ ndyuut a̱nwuat kani [ɨ̃] ku nang a̱nwuat a̱gha̱ghap a̱tyong nang á̱ ngyei ma̱ng zwua̱i a̱ni ka̱ yet homorganic a̱ni da̱nian ka̱ khwi a̱nwuat a̱gha̱ghap a̱ghyang.

Muna̱pyia̱ a̱tsa̱ntsai nwunwuat

Ikwere ni̱ tyai ntangka̱i muna̱pyia̱ nwunwuat a̱tsa̱ntsai nfeang nia:

1. Kuzang a̱tsa̱ntsai a̱nwuat shyia̱ mami swang a̱lyiat Ikwere ja, ma̱ng jhyang ji̱ vwuon a̱ni, shim ma̱ng a̱tsa̱ntsai nwunwuat á̱ghyang di̱ swang a̱lyiat ji nang mi̱ di̱ nshyia̱ ku nwai nshyia̱ advanced tongue root.
2. Ta hwa nwunwuat a̱tsa̱ntai ku byia̱ shi a̱za nyiung ma̱ a̱ka̱tyong kpa̱mkpaan ku shyia̱ a̱mgba̱m nhu ku a̱zanson ku a̱zama, ku si̱ fa swáng a̱lyiat nsweang ji /i/ & /u/, /ɪ/ & /ʊ/, /e/ & /o/, a̱ mbeang /ɛ/ & /ɔ/ si̱ mi̱n nyia̱ di̱ a̱ka̱tyong kpa̱mkpaan bah. Nwunwuat a̱tsa̱ntsai ma̱ng shi a̱za vwuon. Ku si̱ vwuon ma̱ng a̱nwuat a̱tsa̱ntsai ntsa mi̱ swáng a̱lyiat lyulyoot ji tsa ma̱ng a̱nwuat a̱tsa̱ntsai ku ma̱ng /ɾ/, a̱wot si̱ yet kap swáng a̱lyiat onomatopia.

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar or palatal	Velar		Glottal
					unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
Plosive or Affricate	voiceless	p	t	tʃ	k	kʷ
	voiced	b	d	dʒ	ɡ	ɡʷ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s
	voiced	v	z
Non-plosive stop	plain	ḅ~m
	glottalized	ʼḅ~ʼm
Tap			ɾ~ɾ̃
Approximant			l~n	j~j̃	ɰ~ɰ̃	w~w̃	h~h̃	hʷ~h̃ʷ

Nwunwuat a̱tsa̱ntsai a̱bwonu [ḅ ʼḅ l ɾ j ɰ w h hʷ] ni̱ nshyia̱ a̱zanson nwunwuat a̱tsa̱ntsai a̱bwonu, a̱wot nasal allophones mba [m ʼm n ɾ̃ ȷ̃ ɰ̃ w̃ h̃ h̃ʷ] a̱zanson lilyem yei-nzwua̱i. "Non-explosive stops" [ḅ ʼḅ] nwai yet nwunwuat ngai hwa a̱wot lu si̱ tyia̱ ca̱caat ma̱ng '[implosive di̱ zwá-a̱lyem A̱kum-a̱cyi.

Tap hu /ɾ/ di̱n jen jhyang yet a̱nwuat tyei-ca̱caat [ɹ] myang.

Shyak a̱nwuat

A̱lyem Ikwere yet a̱lyem shai a̱nwuat kya ma̱ng nwunwuat-yei a̱natat: a̱za, a̱ka̱wa̱tyia̱, a̱tatak, a̱kwa̱i a̱za-a̱tatak, a̱kwa a̱za-a̱ka̱wa̱tyia̱, a̱kwa̱i ma̱ng a̱ya̱ngam a̱ka̱wa̱tyia̱-a̱tatak. Ikwere meang byia̱ a̱nwuat ka̱ shyia̱ ma̱ sa̱nseang a̱ni. Kidee: rínya᷆ (a̱kwa̱i a̱za, a̱ka̱wa̱tyia̱-a̱tatak) fa "kpa̱p, swan kpa̱p", rìnyâ (a̱kwa̱i a̱tatak, a̱za-a̱tatak) fa "a̱nap, a̱kyuo", mụ̌ (a̱ya̱ngam) fa "myiam", mụ̂ (a̱kwa̱i a̱za-a̱tatak) fa "byin", ba̱ng si̱ nat.

Fang a̱zanson

• Clements, George N.; Osu, Sylvester (2005). "Nasal harmony in Ikwere, a language with no phonemic nasal consonants". Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. 26 (2): 165–200. doi:10.1515/jall.2005.26.2.165. S2CID 144317723.
• Williamson, Kay (1970). Reading and writing Ikwerre. Ibadan: Institute of African Studies.