Likpe or Sekpele (also Bosele, Mu) is spoken in the mountainous lower part of the Oti 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

Consonants

Consonants
LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarLabial- velarGlottal
Plosive/ Affricatevoicelesspttʃkkpʔ
voicedbddʒggb
Fricativefsʃ
Nasalmnɲŋ
Approximantljw
  • /p/ and /g/ are rare.
  • Clusters include ⟨Cl⟩, ⟨Cw⟩, and ⟨Cy⟩.

Vowels

Oral vowels
FrontCentralBack
[-round][+round]
Closeiu
Close-mideo
Open-midɛœɔ
Opena
Nasal vowels
FrontCentralBack
Closeĩũ
Close-midõ
Open-midɔ̃
Openã

Tones

Likpe has three tones: high, low, and mid.

Notes

  • Allen, Edward Jay (1980). "Likpe". In Kropp Dakubu, M. E. (ed.). West African Language Data Sheets. Vol. 2. West African Linguistic Society. pp. LIK 1-LIK 6.

Further reading

  • Ford, Kevin C. (1973). "On the loss of cross-height vowel harmony". Research Review (Institute of African Studies, Legon, Ghana). Supplement 4.
  • Heine, Bernd (1968). Verbreitung und Gliederung der Togo-Restsprachen (in German). Berlin: Reimer.
  • Ladefoged, Peter (1964). A Phonetic Study of West African Languages. London: Cambridge University Press. OCLC .

External links

  • ELAR archive of