Akpes language

Endangered language of Nigeria

Akpes

Abesabesi
Pronunciation| [àbèsàbès]
Native to| Nigeria
Region| Ondo State

Native speakers

| 7,000 (2021)[1]

Language family

Niger–Congo?

* Atlantic–Congo
* Volta–Congo
* Volta–Niger
* yeai
* Akpes–Edoid
* Akpes

Language codes
ISO 639-3| `ibe`
Glottolog| `akpe1248`
ELP| Ikorom
Coordinates: 7°37′58″N 5°52′41″E﻿ / ﻿7.632653°N 5.877947°E﻿ / 7.632653; 5.877947﻿ (Gedegede)

Akpes (Àbèsàbèsì) is an endangered language of Nigeria. It is spoken by approximately 7,000 speakers[1] in the North of Ondo State. The language is surrounded by several other languages of the Akoko area, where Yoruba is the lingua franca. Yoruba replaces Akpes in more and more informal domains and thus forwards a gradual shift from Akpes towards Yoruba. Akpes is generally attributed to the Volta-Congo Branch of the Niger-Congo phylum.

## Name

[edit]

The language is commonly referred to as 'Akpes' in literature. As this term is in fact the name of one of the four dialects, it is not supported by the whole speaker community. A meeting of representatives of all nine settlements has coined the term 'Abesabesi' to denote the language. It is a reduplication of the word àbès meaning 'we'.[2]

## Distribution and varieties

[edit]

Abesabesi is spoken in nine different settlements in the Akoko North-East and Akoko North-West LGAs of Ondo State. While Àkùnnù, Àsẹ̀, Gèdègédé, Ìbáràmù, Ìkáràmù, and Ìyànì are independent towns, three settlements form a quarter of the multilingual town Àjọwá: Dája, Ẹ̀ṣùkù, Ìlúdọ̀tun (also: Ìlọ̀dùn or Àkùnnù Àjọwá).[3] The quarter Efifa of Ajowa used to speak Akpes in the past but switched to the local Yoruba variety Owe.[4] Agoyi (2009) classifies the varieties of these nine settlements into four dialects: Akpes, Èkiròmì, Èṣùkù, Ìluẹnì.[2] Her analysis is mostly based on differences in lexicon and phonemics (especially vowel harmony). All dialects are mutually intelligible. [5] Below is a table of all dialects, the settlements they are spoken in, and alternate names.

Dialect | Settlement | Location | Coordinates | Alternate names

|
|
|
|

Akpes | Àkùnnù | Akoko North-East LGA | 7°37′47″N 5°56′15″E﻿ / ﻿7.629756°N 5.937402°E﻿ / 7.629756; 5.937402﻿ (Akunnu) |
Ìlúdọ̀tun | Quarter of Àjọwá, Akoko North-West LGA | 7°40′27″N 5°53′54″E﻿ / ﻿7.674049°N 5.898399°E﻿ / 7.674049; 5.898399﻿ (Iludotun) | Ìlọ̀dùn, Àkùnnù Àjọwá
Èkiròmì | Asẹ | Akoko North-West LGA | 7°36′08″N 5°53′03″E﻿ / ﻿7.60222°N 5.884055°E﻿ / 7.60222; 5.884055﻿ (Ase) |
Ìkáràmù | Akoko North-West LGA | 7°36′38″N 5°51′49″E﻿ / ﻿7.610636°N 5.863632°E﻿ / 7.610636; 5.863632﻿ (Ikaram) | Ikaram, Ikeram, Ikorom
Èṣùkù | Dája | Quarter of Àjọwá, Akoko North-West LGA | 7°40′40″N 5°53′58″E﻿ / ﻿7.677871°N 5.899412°E﻿ / 7.677871; 5.899412﻿ (Daja) |
Ẹ̀ṣùkù | Quarter of Àjọwá, Akoko North-West LGA | 7°40′25″N 5°53′47″E﻿ / ﻿7.673737°N 5.896295°E﻿ / 7.673737; 5.896295﻿ (Eshuku) | Echuku
Ìluẹnì | Gèdègédé | Akoko North-West LGA | 7°37′58″N 5°52′41″E﻿ / ﻿7.632653°N 5.877947°E﻿ / 7.632653; 5.877947﻿ (Gedegede) |
Ìbáràmù | Akoko North-West LGA | 7°35′57″N 5°50′47″E﻿ / ﻿7.599074°N 5.846479°E﻿ / 7.599074; 5.846479﻿ (Ibaram) | Ibaram
Ìyànì | Akoko North-West LGA | 7°36′02″N 5°50′58″E﻿ / ﻿7.600432°N 5.849476°E﻿ / 7.600432; 5.849476﻿ (Iyani) |

## Genetic affiliation

[edit]

While most scholars attribute Abesabesi somewhere in the Volta–Niger branch of Niger–Congo, its exact position within this branch is disputed. Some claimed that it forms a separate sub-branch and others claimed a closer relationship to the Edoid languages or Ukaan.[6] [7]

The ASJP 4.0 classifies Abesabesi as most closely related to the Ukaan language.[8]

## Phonology

[edit]

Abesabesi has a rich phoneme inventory comprising labial-velar and labialized consonants and an advanced tongue root (ATR) distinction for the oral mid vowels. The orthography used here follows Lau (2020),[9] which is based on IPA. Abesabesi is a tonal language with a high, a mid, and a low tone. These tones are symbolized through an acute accent, no accent, or grave accent on the tone-bearing unit. All three tones are lexical tones. However, the high tone only rarely appears on base lexemes but is often used as grammatical tone marking the mood of a clause, possession, location, or relativization. Frequent phonological processes in Abesabesi include vowel deletion, assimilation, and vowel harmony. A syllable can have the structure N (syllabic nasal) or (C)V(V)(C). Closed syllables only appear at the end of a word and are likely to have resulted from word final vowel deletion. [10]

### Vowels

[edit]

Abesabesi exhibits seven oral and five nasal vowels. While an ATR distinction exists for the oral mid vowels (/o/ vs. /ɔ/ and /e/ vs. /ɛ/), nasal vowels do not differentiate +ATR from -ATR (/ɔ̃/ and /ɛ̃/).[11]

Oral vowels  | Front | Central | Back

|
|
|

Close | i  |  | u
Mid | e ɛ  |  | o ɔ
Open |  | a  |
Nasal vowels  | Front | Central | Back

|
|
|

Close | ĩ  |  | ũ
Mid | ɛ̃  |  | ɔ̃
Open |  | ã  |

### Consonants

[edit]

Abesabesi's consonant inventory consists of 29 consonants. While 20 of these consonants are frequently used in lexemes, nine only appear marginally (indicated in parentheses). Many of these marginal consonants are labialized equivalents of stops, nasals, and fricatives, such as /bʷ/, /mʷ/, and /hʷ/. Agoyi treats these consonants as a result of deleted rounded vowels.[12] The phoneme /ʃ/ can be realized as [ʃ] or as the affricate [t͜ʃ].

| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | Glottal

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Plosive | (p)  b (bʷ) | t d |  |  | k (kʷ) ɡ | k͜p ɡ͜b |
Nasal | m (mʷ) | n |  | ɲ | ŋ |  |
Fricative | f (fʷ) | s (sʷ) | ʃ (ʃʷ) |  |  |  | h (hʷ)
Affricate |  |  | d͜ʒ |  |  |  |
Lateral |  | l |  |  |  |  |
Approximant |  | r |  | j (j̃) |  | w |

## See also

[edit]

* Akpes word lists (Wiktionary)

## Further reading

[edit]

* Agoyi, Taiwo Ọpeyemi 1997. The category of number and the genetic classification of Èkiròmì. Seminar paper, University of Ilorin.
* Ayoọla O.J. 1986. Aspects of the Phonology of Dája. BA long essay, University of Ilorin.
* Blench, Roger. 2011. Comparative Akpes.
* Ibrahim-Arirabiyi, Femi 1989. A comparative reconstruction of Akpes lects. MA thesis, Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Port Harcourt.
* Lau, Jonas 2021. A Digital Reference Grammar of Abesabesi. Towards a data format for digital reference grammars. Doctoral Thesis, University of Cologne
* Raji, B.T. 1986. Aspects of the phonology of Ikaramu. BA long essay, University of Ilorin.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Lau, Jonas (2021). "Number of speakers". Abesabesi Grammar.
2. ^ a b Agoyi, T. O. (2008). The phonology of Àbèsàbèsì vowel harmony (Unpublished PhD thesis). University of Ilorin.
3. ^ Lau, Jonas (2021). "Location and surrounding languages". Abesabesi Grammar.
4. ^ Agoyi, Taiwo (2013). "Language, Invasion and Insecurity: The history of Àbèsàbèsì". American Journal of Social Issues and Humanities. 3 (2): 68–77\. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.684.9145.
5. ^ Agoyi, Taiwo (2001). "The category of number and the genetic classification of Èkìròmì". Inquiry in African Languages and Literatures. 4: 64–80.
6. ^ Elugbe, Ben (2012). "Comparative Akedoid and West Benue-Congo" (PDF). Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction.
7. ^ Agoyi, Taiwo (2012). "Re-classification of Abesabesi (Akpes) as Edoid" (PDF). Towards Proto-Niger-Congo: Comparison and Reconstruction.
8. ^ Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity: Version 4 (October 2013).
9. ^ Lau, Jonas (2021). "Orthography". Abesabesi Grammar.
10. ^ Agoyi, Taiwo (2015). "Àbèsàbèsì Syllable and Syllabification: A Generative Phonological Approach". Ago-Iwoye Journal of Languages and Literary Studies. 6: 246–270.
11. ^ Lau, Jonas (2021). "Vowels". Abesabesi Grammar.
12. ^ Agoyi, Taiwo (2013). "Classification of Abesabesi". International Journal of Language and Literatures. 1 (1): 37–51.

## External links

[edit]

* Abesabesi language blog
* Collection Àbèsàbèsì \- ELAR, SOAS, University of London
* Abesabesi language documentation and maintenance
* Akpes basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database

* v
* t
* e

Volta–Niger languages

Ayere-Ahan|

* Ayere
* Ahan

Gbe|

* Aja
* Alada
* Ayizo
* Ewe
* Fon
* Gbesi
* Gen
* Gun
* Tɔli
* Tofin
* Pherá
* Phla
* Saxwe

Igboid|

* Ekpeye
* Ezaa
* Igbo
* Ika
* Ikwerre
* Ikwo
* Izii
* Mgbo
* Ogba

Yoruboid|

* Ede
* Igala
* Itsekiri
* Yoruba

Edoid|

| Delta|

* Degema
* Engenni
* Epie

|

North-Central|

* Afenmai
* Edo
* Enwan
* Esan
* Ghotuo
* Igwe
* Ikhin
* Ikpeshi
* Ivbiosakon
* Okpela
* Ososo
* Sasaru
* Uneme

Northwestern|

* Akuku
* Ehueun
* Iyayu
* Okpamheri
* Oloma
* NW Okpe
* Uhami
* Ukue

Southwestern|

* Eruwa
* Isoko
* SW Okpe
* Urhobo
* Uvbie

Nupoid|

* Asu
* Bassa Nge
* Dibo
* Ebira
* Gade
* Gupa-Abawa
* Gwari
* Kakanda
* Kami
* Koro Zuba
* Kupa
* Nupe

Idomoid|

* Agatu
* Alago
* Etulo
* Idoma
* Igede
* Yace
* Akpa
* Yala

Others|

* Akpes
* Akoko
* Oko
* Ukaan

* v
* t
* e

Niger–Congo branches

Atlantic–Congo|

| Savannas|

| Adamawa|

* Bena–Mboi
* Bikwin–Jen
* Bua
* Day
* Fali
* Kim
* Kwah (Baa)
* Longuda
* Mbum (Kebi–Benue)
* Mumuye
* Nyingwom (Kam)
* Samba–Duru
* Tula–Waja
* Yendang (Maya)

|

Gur|

* Central Gur
* Kulango
* Miyobe
* Samo (Burkina) ?
* Senufo
* Tiefo
* Tusian
* Viemo

Ubangian|

* Banda
* Gbaya
* Mba
* Ngbaka (Mundu–Baka)
* Ngbandi
* Sere (Ndogo)
* Zande

Volta–Congo|

| Benue–Congo|

| Platoid|

* Jukunoid
* Kainji
* Plateau

|

Cross River|

* Central Delta
* Lower Cross River
* Ogoni
* Upper Cross River

Northern Bantoid|

* Dakoid
* Mambiloid
* Tikar

Southern Bantoid|

* Bantu
* Beboid
* Bendi
* Ekoid
* Grassfields
* Tivoid

Volta–Niger|

* Akoko
* Akpes
* Ayere–Ahan
* Edoid
* Gbe
* Idomoid
* Igboid
* Nupoid
* Oko
* Ukaan
* Yoruboid

West Atlantic|

* Bak
* Bijago
* Gola
* Limba
* Mel
* Nalu
* Rio Nunez
* Senegambian
* Sua

Others (Ghana
and Ivory Coast)|

* Dompo
* Ega
* Kru
* Kwa
* Mangree ?
* Mbre
* Mpra ?
* Siamou

Mande|

| Southeast|

| Eastern|

* Bissa
* Busa–Boko
* Samo (Burkina) ?
* Shanga–Tyenga

|

Southern|

* Dan–Goo–Tura
* Gban–Beng
* Guro–Yaure
* Mano
* Mwa–Wan

West|

| Central West
(Manding–Kpelle)|

* Jogo
* Manding
* Mokole
* Soso–Jalonke (Susu–Yalunka)
* Southwestern Mande
* Vai–Kono

|

Northwest
(Samogo–Soninke)|

* Bobo
* Jowulu (Jɔ)
* Samogo (partial: Duun–Sembla)
* Soninke–Bozo

Kordofanian|

* Katla
* Lafofa
* Rashad
* Talodi–Heiban

Others|

* Defaka
* Dogon
* Ijoid

Isolates|

* Bangime
* Jalaa ?
* Komta ?
* Laal

Unclassified|

* Degere ?
* Dima-Bottego ?
* Omaio ?
* Rimba ?
* "Serengeti-Dorobo" ?
* Wawu ?

Proto-languages|

* Proto-Niger–Congo
* Proto-Bantu
* Proto-Yoruboid

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