Guéré (Gere), also called Wè (Wee), is a Kru language spoken by over 300,000 people in the Dix-Huit Montagnes and Moyen-Cavally regions of Ivory Coast.
Phonology
The phonology of Guere (here the Zagna dialect of Central Guere / Southern Wè)[2] is briefly sketched out below.
Consonants
The consonant phonemes are as follows:
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar |
Labialized velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops | voiceless | p | t | c | k | k͡p | kʷ |
| voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | ɡʷ | |
| implosive | ɓ | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ||||
| voiced | v | z | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||
Allophones of some of these phonemes include:
- [k͡m] is an allophone of /k͡p/ before nasal vowels
- [ŋ͡m] is an allophone of /ɡ͡b/ before nasal vowels
- [ŋʷ] is an allophone of /w/ before nasal vowels
- [ɗ] is an allophone of /l/ in word-initial position
- [r] is an allophone of /l/ after a coronal consonant (alveolar or palatal)
In addition, while the nasal consonants /m, n/ and contrast with /ɓ/ and /l/ before oral vowels, and are thus separate phonemes, before nasal vowels only the nasal consonants occur. /ɓ/ and /l/ do not occur before nasal vowels, suggesting that historically a phonemic merger between these sounds and the nasals /m, n/ may have occurred in this position.
Vowels
Like many West African languages, Guere makes use of a contrast between vowels with advanced tongue root and those with retracted tongue root. In addition, nasal vowels contrast phonemically with oral vowels.
| Oral | Nasal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | Front | Back | |
| Close (ATR) | i | u | ĩ | ũ |
| Close (RTR) | ɪ | ʊ | ɪ̃ | ʊ̃ |
| Mid (ATR) | e | o | õ | |
| Mid (RTR) | ɛ | ɔ | ɛ̃ | ɔ̃ |
| Open (RTR) | a | ã | ||
Tones
Guere is a tonal language and contrasts ten tones:
| Tone | IPA | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | ˩ | ɡ͡ba˩ | "to scatter" |
| Mid | ˧ | ɡ͡ba˧ | "to destroy" |
| High | ˦ | mɛ˦ | "to die" |
| Top | ˥ | ji˥ | "full" |
| Low–high rising | ˩˦ | ɡ͡bla˩˦ | "hat" |
| Low–top rising | ˩˥ | k͡plɔ̃˩˥ | "banana" |
| Mid–high rising | ˧˦ | ɓlo˧˦ | "wall" |
| High–top rising | ˦˥ | de˦˥ | "younger brother" |
| High–low falling | ˦˩ | ɡ͡ba˩a˦˩ | "goat" |
| Mid–low falling | ˧˩ | sre˧˩ | "penis" |
See also
- Wobe a.k.a. Northern Wè
References
- ^ Central Gere (Southern Wee) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Neyo (Western Wee) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Paradis, Carole (1983). Description phonologique du guéré. Abidjan: Institut de Linguistique Appliquée, Université d'Abidjan.