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Ebrié language

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Ebrié
Cama
Pronunciation[tʃamã]
Native toIvory Coast
RegionAbidjan
Native speakers
150,000 (2017)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3ebr
Glottologebri1238

Ebrié, or Cama (Caman, Kyama, Tchaman, Tsama, Tyama), is spoken by the Tchaman people in Ivory Coast and Ghana. It is a Potou language of the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo family of languages.

Phonology

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Phonemic Inventory

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Consonants[2]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar
Fortis, voiceless pʰ [pʰ] tʰ [tʰ] cʰ [cʰ, tʃ] kʰ [kʰ]
Fortis, voiced b d ɟ [ɟ, dʒ] g gb [g͡b]
Lenis, voiceless p t c k kp [k͡p]
Lenis, voiced ɓ [ɓ, m] ɗ [ɗ, l, r, n] j [j, ɲ] w [w, ŋʷ]
Fricatives f/ (v) s/(z) h [x, h]

The sounds [v] and [z] are marginal and occur only in loanwords.[2]

Vowels[2]
Oral Nasal
Close i u
Mid e o ɛ̃ ɔ̃
Open ɛ a ɔ ã

There are no nasal consonant phonemes in Ebrié. Instead, the nasal vowels cause the voiced lenis consonant series [ɓ, ɗ, j, w] to assimilate into [m, n, ɲ, ŋʷ].[2]

Tones

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Ebrié has two level tones (H and L) and a falling tone (HL).[3] It also has floating tones, and the voiced fortis consonants have a tendency to lower the pitch of the low tone.[2]

Morphology

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Nominal Prefixes

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The noun class prefixes in Ebrié distinguish between certain homophones and between singular and plural forms. Originally, this system would have been more robust, as seen in other Niger-Congo languages.[2]

The four nominal prefixes are á-, à-, ɛ̃́-, and ɛ̃̀-. The latter two, which are nasal vowels, can also be realized as syllabic nasals, transcribed as ɴ́- and ɴ̀- but written orthographically as <n>.[2]

Nouns with Prefixes[2]
Prefix Noun Gloss
á- áɓókʰà̃ fog
à- àlɔ̀kpɔ̀ water turtle
ɛ̃́-, ɴ́- ɴ́cʰwè bone
ɛ̃̀-, ɴ̀- ɴ̀tʰè father

The second noun in a compound retains its prefix, as shown below.

cámã́

the Ebriés

+

 

ńcã̀

language

 

cámã́ǹcã̀

Ebrié language

cámã́ + ńcã̀ → cámã́ǹcã̀

{the Ebriés} {} language {} {Ebrié language}

átɛ̃̀

fire

+

 

ńtʰù

sand

 

ńtɛ̃̀ǹtʰù

ash

[4]

 

átɛ̃̀ + ńtʰù → ńtɛ̃̀ǹtʰù

fire {} sand {} ash

Plural Nouns

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Nouns can be made plural through the use of nominal prefixes or plural suffixes. Certain nouns are irregular or invariable.[5]

When a singular noun begins with the prefix á- or à-, its plural form will have the prefix ń- or ǹ- respectively. If a singular noun lacks a prefix, it will often have the prefix ń- in the plural. Other nouns take one of the plural suffixes -mã́, -hɔ̃̀, or -mã́hɔ̃̀.[5]

  • áyá /ájá/ 'tree' → ńyá /ńjá/ 'trees'
  • agban /àg͡bã́/ 'plate' → ngbán /ǹg͡bã́/ 'plates
  • lalabhô [làlàɓô] 'duck' → ńlalabho [ńlàlàɓô] 'ducks'
  • mmanhɔn [m̀mã̀hɔ̀̃] 'mothers'
  • nmyahɔn [ǹmjã̂hɔ̃̀] 'spouses'[5]

Subject Pronouns

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In Ebrié, tense/aspect/mood markers are found on the verb or as separate morphemes if the subject is a noun or a plural subject pronoun. The singular subject pronouns merge with the TAM markers, resulting in morphophonemic changes.[3]

For exampleː

mɛ̃̀

1SG

+

 

ɓâ

FUT

 

mã̀ã́

1SG.FUT

[3]

 

mɛ̃̀ + ɓâ → mã̀ã́

1SG {} FUT {} 1SG.FUT

Subject Pronouns[3]
Singular Plural
1 mɛ̃̀
2 ɛ̀ ɔ̃́
3 ã̀

Syntax

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Ebrié is a SVO language, as seen in the following example.

jàjó

Yayo

étʰà

chew.PROG

kpã́hɔ̃̀

bread

jàjó étʰà kpã́hɔ̃̀

Yayo chew.PROG bread

'Yayo eats bread.'[3]

Orthography

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Alphabet[4]
Symbol IPA Example Transcription Gloss
a /a/ áyá /ájá/ tree
an /ã/ áphán /ápʰã́/ smell
b /b/ /bɔ̀/ toad
bh /ɓ/ ábhwe /áɓwè/ canari
c /c/ kɔcɛn /kɔ̀cɛ̃̀/ bird
ch /cʰ/ chralá [cʰràlá] pangolin
d /d/ du /dù/ snake
e /e/ ńné [ńné] yam
ɛ /ɛ/ ádɛ́ /ádɛ́/ palm tree
ɛn /ɛ̃/ átɛn /átɛ̃̀/ fire
f /f/ áfɔn [áfɔ̃̀] branch
g /g/ gwe /gwè/ sea
gb /g͡b/ agbu /àg͡bù/ rifle
h /h/ áhɔn /áhɔ̃̀/ axe
i /i/ ḿbi [ḿbì] leaf
j /ɟ/ njɔn [ǹɟɔ̃̀] friends
k /k/ akran [àkrã̀] bottle
kh /kʰ/ ákhɔn /ákʰɔ̃̀/ spear
kp /k͡p/ ákpró [ák͡pró] hat
l [l, ɗ] álɛ [álɛ̀] tongue
m [m] mɛn [mɛ̃̀] I
n [n] nnwɛ [nnwɛ̀] snail
o /o/ ákhokho /ákʰòkʰò/ back
ɔ /ɔ/ awɔ́ /àwɔ́/ cat
ɔn /ɔ̃/ ácɔn /ácɔ̃̀/ fish
p /p/ ápɔ́ [ápɔ́] love
ph /pʰ/ lephan [lèpʰã̀] someone
r [r] ahran [àhrã̀] canoe
s /s/ /sɛ̀/ man
t /t/ áta /átà/ insult
th /tʰ/ átha [átʰà] war
u /u/ ńdu [ńdù] water
v (v) nvra [ǹvrà] appatam
w /w/ áwɔ́ /áwɔ́/ ten
y /j/ /jɔ̃̀/ good
z /z/ nzrɔ [ǹzrɔ̀] bag

The high tone is marked with the acute accent (ájí 'respect'), and the low tone is left unmarked (aji 'clay'). The falling tone is marked with a circumflex (â).[4]

The apostrophe (') is used to mark the habitual form of the verb.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Ebrié at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bolê-Richard, Rémy (2018). "Contribution à la phonologie historique du Niger-Congo: vers la reconstruction du Proto-Potou". Linguistique africaine: perspectives croisées (in French). Institut de Phonétique. ISBN 978-29-570-8944-4.
  3. ^ a b c d e Dido, Yao Maxime (2018). "Les pronoms mɛn, ɛ, an et nkɛ de l'ébrié ː morphophonologie et fonctions syntaxiques". Cahiers Ivoiriens de Recherche Linguistique. 43: 37–48.
  4. ^ a b c d Bolê-Richard, Rémy (1986). Guide de lecture de l'ébrié (in French). Institut de Linguistique Appliquée. ISBN 9782809101270.
  5. ^ a b c Meyan, Meyan Djeya Ange Océane (2020), Planning an onomasiological dictionary for Atchan: an endangered language of the Ivory Coast