Lelemi language
(Redirected from Lelemi)
| Lelemi | |
|---|---|
| Lefana | |
| Native to | Ghana |
| Region | Jasikan |
| Ethnicity | Buem |
Native speakers | 72,000 (2017)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lef |
| Glottolog | lele1264 |
Lelemi or Lefana (Lε-lεmi, Lε-fana) is spoken by the Buem people in the mountainous Volta Region of Ghana. It belongs to the geographic group of Ghana Togo Mountain languages (traditionally called the Togorestsprachen or Togo Remnant languages) of the Kwa branch of Niger–Congo.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | k͡p | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | |||
| voiced | v | ||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||
| Trill | r | ||||||
- /b/ may also be heard as an implosive [ɓ] in word-initial position.
- /f/ may have a variety of allophones when preceding /w/. Most notably a bilabial fricative [ɸ]. Although occasionally also as pharyngeal [ħ] and glottal [h] fricatives among different speakers.[2]
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Near-high | ɪ | ʊ | |
| High-mid | e | o | |
| Low-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Low | a |
References
[edit]- ^ Lelemi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Allan, Edward Jay (1973). A grammar of Buem, the Lelemi language. University of London.
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