| Nzema | |
|---|---|
| Region | Ghana, Ivory Coast |
| Ethnicity | Nzema |
Native speakers | 430,000 (2013–2021)1 |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | nzi |
| ISO 639-3 | nzi |
| Glottolog | nzim1238 |
Nzema, also known as Nzima or Appolo, is an Akan language spoken by the Nzema people of southwestern Ghana and southeastern Ivory Coast.2 It is partially intelligible with Jwira-Pepesa and is closely related to Baoulé.3
Nzema is one of several Bia languages, and it has had considerable influence from the Twi-Fante language.4 There are notable towns in Nzemaland such as Bonyere, Nkroful, Half Assini, Axim, Eikwe, Baku, Atuabo, Beyin, Essiama and Anokyi.
Phonology
Consonants
The following allophones are reported, among others. [p] is rare.
| 45 | Labial | Labiodental | Dental | Alveolar | (Alveolo-) Palatal |
Velar | Labial-velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | plain | lab. | pal. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | |||||
| Nasal | plain | m | n̪ | n | ɲ | ɲʷ | ŋ | ŋʷ | ŋm | ||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t̪ | tɕ | tɕʷ | k | kʷ | kp~tp | ʔ | ||||||
| voiced | b | d̪ | d | dʑ | dʑʷ | ɡ | gʷ | ɡb~db | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | fʷ | s | sʷ | sʲ | ɕ | ɕʷ | x | h | hʷ | ||||
| voiced | v | vʷ | z | zʷ | zʲ | ɣ | ɦ | ||||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||||||||||
| Lateral | plain | l | |||||||||||||
| nasalized | l̃ | ||||||||||||||
| Approximant | j | ɥ | w | ||||||||||||
Vowels
| 4 | Front | Central | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Near-close | ɪ | ʊ | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Near-open | ɐ | ||
| Open | a |
Of Nzema's ten vowels, eight may be nasalized: /ĩ/, /ɪ̃/, /ɛ̃/, /ɐ̃/, /ã/, /ũ/, /ʊ̃/ and /ɔ̃/.45
Writing system
| Uppercase | A | B | D | Ɛ | E | F | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | Ɔ | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | b | d | ɛ | e | f | g | h | i | k | l | m | n | ɔ | o | p | r | s | t | u | v | w | y | z |
References
References
- Nzema at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- "Nzema". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- Burmeister, Jonathan L. (1976). "A comparison of variable nouns in Anyi-Sanvi and Nzema". Annales de l'Université d'Abidjan. H (Linguistique 9): 7–19.
- Berry, J. (1955). "Some Notes on the Phonology of the Nzema and Ahanta Dialects". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 17 (1): 160–165. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00106421. ISSN 1474-0699.
- Chinebuah, Isaac Kodwo (1973). Grammatical categories of the verbal piece in Nzema. University of London.
- Language Guide, 1977