Yakö language
| Yakö | |
|---|---|
| Lokaa | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Cross River State |
| Ethnicity | Yakö people |
Native speakers | (120,000 cited 1989)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | yaz |
| Glottolog | loka1252 |
The Yakö language (also Lokö or Lokạạ) is an Upper Cross River language of the Yakö people (Yakurr) of Nigeria.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio- velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | k | k͡p | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | |
| Fricative | f | s | ||||
| Tap | (ɾ) | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||
- [ɾ] may occur as an allophone of /d/, a variant of /l/, or as a result of contact with other languages such as Efik or Yoruba.
- Sounds /b, t, d/ are heard as unreleased [b̚, t̚, d̚] when in word-final position.[2]
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | u uː | |
| High-mid | e eː | ə əː | o oː |
| Low-mid | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | |
| Low | a aː |
References
- ^ Yakö at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Iwara, Alexander U. (1982). Phonology and grammar of Lòkə̀ə̀: a preliminary study. University of London dissertation.