Ukue language
{{Short description|Edoid language of Ondo State, Nigeria}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Ukue
|states=Nigeria
|region=Ondo State
|speakers={{sigfig|14100|2}}
|date=2000
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=Atlantic–Congo
|fam3=Volta–Niger
|fam4={{sm|yeai}}
|fam5=Edoid
|fam6=Northwestern
|fam7=Osse River
|iso3=uku
|glotto=ukue1238
|glottorefname=Ukue
}}
Ukue (Epinmi) is an Edoid language of Ondo State, Nigeria. It is sometimes considered the same language as Ehuẹun.
Phonology
Ukue has a rather reduced system, compared to proto-Edoid, of seven vowels; these form two harmonic sets, {{IPA|/i e a o u/}} and {{IPA|/i ɛ a ɔ u/}}.Archangeli & Pulleyblank, 1994. Grounded phonology, p 181ff
The language arguably has no phonemic nasal stops; {{IPA|[m, n]}} alternate with {{IPA|[β, l]}}, depending on whether the following vowel is oral or nasal. Unusually, it has fricatives but no sibilants. 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"
! |
| Plosive
| align=center | {{IPA link|b}} | align=center | {{IPA link|t̪}} {{IPA link|d̪}} | 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|h}} |
| rowspan=2|Rhotic*
| | | align=center | {{IPA link|r̝}} | | | | |
|
| | align=center | {{IPA link|r}} | | | | |
| Approximant
| align=center| {{IPA link|β}} {{IPAblink|m}} | | align=center| {{IPA link|l}} {{IPAblink|n}} | align=center| {{IPA link|j}} | | align=center| {{IPA link|w}} | |
(*See Edo for a likely interpretation of the two rhotics.)