Epie language

{{Infobox language

|name= Epie

|region= Bayelsa state

|states= Nigeria

|speakers=140,000

|date=2021

|ref=e25

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Volta–Congo

|fam4=Volta–Niger

|fam5={{sm|yeai}}

|fam6=Akpes–Edoid

|fam7=Edoid

|fam8=Delta Edoid

|iso3=epi

|glotto=epie1238

|glottorefname=Epie

}}

Epie (or Epie–Atịsa) is part of Delta Edoid languages spoken in Nigeria by the Epie–Atissa people.

Phonology

The language has a partially reduced system, compared to proto-Edoid, of eight vowels; these form two harmonic sets, {{IPA|/i e a o u/}} and {{IPA|/i ɛ a ɔ ʊ/}}.Archangeli & Pulleyblank, 1994. Grounded phonology, p 181ff

Epie has only one clearly phonemic nasal stop, {{IPA|/m/}}; {{IPA|[n]}} alternates with {{IPA|[l]}}, depending on whether the following vowel is oral or nasal. (The other approximants, {{IPA|/j ɣ w/}}, are also nasalized in this position: see Edo language for a similar situation.) The inventory is:Jeff Mielke, 2008. The emergence of distinctive features, p 136ff;
also found in Variation and gradience in phonetics and phonology, p 26ff

class="wikitable" ! !Labial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Labio-velar
Nasal \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|m}} \| \| \| \|
Implosive \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|ɓ}} \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|ɗ}} \| \| \|
Plosive \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|p}} {{IPA link\|b}} \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|t}} {{IPA link\|d}} \| \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|k}} {{IPA link\|ɡ}} \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|k͡p}} {{IPA link\|ɡ͡b}}
Fricative \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|f}} {{IPA link\|v}} \| align=center \| {{IPA link\|s}} {{IPA link\|z}} \| \| \|
Trill \| \| align=center \| ({{IPA link\|r}}) \| \| \|
Approximant \| \| align=center\| {{IPA link\|l}} {{IPAblink\|n}} \| align=center\| {{IPA link\|j}} \| align=center\| {{IPA link\|ɣ}} \| align=center\| {{IPA link\|w}}

class="wikitable"

!

| align=center | {{IPA link|m}}

|

Implosive

| align=center | {{IPA link|ɓ}}