65 Phonetic Differences Between Esan and Selected Edoid

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages

Evarista Ofure Ikoyo-Eweto

Abstract This study is comparative. It identifies some linguistic features which distinguish Esan, Ẹdo and the dialect cluster of Ẹra-Emai- Iuleha (Ọwan). These three languages constitute a branch of Elugbe’s (1986) Proto North Central Ẹdoid. The impetus for the work is the dearth of micro-comparative studies of the languages that comprise Proto-Ẹdoid. The study is phonetic and examined differences in sound and tonal features of these languages. Primary data comprised lexical items from the languages under focus and were gathered from L1speakers of these languages, while secondary data comprised previous relevant works on the languages under study. Data analysis comprised simple comparative methods by which the sound and tonal features of these languages were examined for relatedness. Results of analysis showed that the major phonetic differences between Esan, Edo and Ọwan lie in their tonetic structure. Specifically, while Edo and Ọwan feature an all High and a final High tonal pattern on lexical items, Esan does not. The Esan language also displays more similarities in phonetic sound inventory with Ọwan than with Ẹdo. Esan and Ọwan feature 28 consonant phones each while Edo features 27 phones. The alveolar trill [ṛ ] and the alveolar approximant [ɹ ] attested in Ẹdo are peculiar to the language. This study gives an insight into micro linguistic relationships that are shown to exist between members of a language group. It would enhance similar such studies within this group and contribute to

Journal of Linguistics, Language and Culture Vol. 4 2017 further comparative studies and the documentation of the languages under study. Key words: Edoid, micro-comparative, phonetics, segmental, tonal.

Introduction This study is a contribution towards an examination of the internal linguistic relationships that exist between the languages that comprise Elugbe’s (1989) Ẹdoid group. Specifically, this work seeks to identify relatedness in phonetic features between Esan, Ẹdo and the dialect cluster of Ora-Emai-Iuleha hereinafter referred to as Ọwan in this study. Elugbe (1989) identifies Esan, Ẹdo and the dialect cluster of Ora-Emai-Iulehaas members of the Ẹdoid group of languages along with Ukue, Ehuen, Uhami, Okpamheri, Emhale, Oloma, the dialect cluster of Okpe–Akuku–Idesa, Ghotuo, Uneme, Yekhee, Uvbie, Urhobo, Okpe, Isoko, Eruwa, the dialect cluster of Epie– Atisa, Egene and Degema. Esan is grouped with Ẹdo, Ora–Emai– Iuleha, Yekhee, Uneme and Ghotuo as Proto North Central Edoid (PNCE). The Edoid family tree as presented in that work is replicated in figure I.

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto

PROTO - EDOID

PDE PNCE PNWE PSWE

PO PSNWE

UKUE

ẸRỤNA ESAN UNEME GHOTUO ỌKPẸ

UVBIE (Somorika) EMHALE OKPAMHERI UHAMI

DEGEMA ATISA EPIE YẸKHEE

(Engenni) ẸGẸNẸ (Bini) ẸDO ỌLỌMA EHUẸUN IULEHA ORA

URHOBO

ISOKO

OKPẸ

EMAI

AKUKU

- IDESA

Key

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PDE - Proto Delta Edoid PSWE - Proto South Western Edoid PNCE - Proto North Central Edoid PNWE - Proto North Western Edoid PSNWE - Proto Southern North Western Edoid PO - Proto Osse Figure I: The Edoid family tree (Culled from Elugbe, 1989:26)

By Elugbe’s Edoid family tree (see figure 1), Esan, Ẹdo and the dialect cluster Ora-Emai-Iuleha are immediate neighbours on the classificatory chart. The focus of this study is on these three languages which Elugbe (1989:22) describes as “… the languages of the Central plains, where there is relative homogeneity.” That languages affect one another when their speakers interact is a known linguistic fact. These interactions and subsequent linguistic changes are made possible by situations referred to socio- linguistically as “contact situations” (Igboanusi and Lorther 2005:1).

Esan Esan is spoken by the people commonly known as ‘Ishan’. The speakers call themselves ‘Esan’. The language is the mother tongue in five Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo State in the Southern part of Nigeria. These LGAs are Esan West, Esan Central, Esan North East, Esan South-East and Igueben. The total population of native speakers of the language is put at 587,858 out of the 3,218,332 of the entire Edo State (2006 National Population Census, Edo State National Population Commission). Records show that Esan land has an area of about 2,987.52 square kilometers, and is located North-East of Benin City. Earlier

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto topographical studies of Esan divides it into two geographical areas identified as Esan A and Esan B. Esan A is said to be made up of a third of the land mass of Esanland and consists of the water-less Plateau with an average elevation of about 1,000 feet. It consists mainly of Esan towns established early in Esan history – Ekpoma, Ewu, Igueben, Irrua and Uromi. Esan B describes the area rich in water and forests occupied by inhabitants whom Okojie (1994:2) describes as “ less sophisticated and hardworking.” Its topography is hilly with valleys, and consists of the settlements called Amahor, Ebelle, Ewatto, Ewohimi, Ewossa, Ewu, Ohordua, Okhuesan and Ubiaja. Esan has as neighbours, Etsako to the North East, Owan to the North West, Orhionwon and Ika to the South West and Aniocha and Oshimili to the South and South East respectively. The River Niger is on her Eastern boarders. Esan has a proposed orthography (Okojie and Ejele, 1989). The language is taught as a subject from primary up to Junior Secondary School levels in both public and private schools in Esan land. The Esan language used to be taught as a course at the State’s College of Education, Ekiadolor in Benin (now Tayo Akpata University of Education), but that is no longer the case. It is used for the relay of local news and discussion programs on the state owned radio and television stations. The language has received some empirical attention. Ejele (1982, 1986, 1994, 2001b&c) examine the phonology, tense, aspect and tone in Esan respectively. Osiruemu (2010) is a pioneering effort in Esan dialectology. Other efforts by the same author examine the interaction of tone and aspects of Esan grammar. Ikoyo-Eweto (2014) is a review of the proposed Esan Orthography.

Ẹdo

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Agheyisi, (1986:iii) states that “…any formal account on any aspect of the Ẹdo language must begin with a clarification of the term ‘Ẹdo’, especially as it has come to be associated with a number of distinct interpretations.” This advice cannot be taken too seriously as a lot of confusion have bedeviled the use of this term both as an umbrella name for referring to a group of languages and as a name for a single language. This confusion is experienced both by native speakers and non- native speakers of the affected languages. Agheyisi explains that the oral tradition account of the origin of the Benin people by Egharevba (1954:8) traces the use of the term “Edo” as “…the indigenous name for Benin City” to a monarch of the Binis in the 15th century. According to her, since this account remains uncontested in the literature, the extension of the name to refer also to the language of the inhabitants of the City was a natural development. However, since the term ‘Bini’ is no longer used to refer to the language in the linguistic circle, the term ‘Ẹdo’ is adopted in this study as has been done in published works on the language spanning more 20 years. Further in this regard Elugbe (1989:3) in his classification of Edoid, draws attention to the ambiguity of the term ‘Edo’ and the need to clarify its use of. He states that this situation has prevented the proper understanding of the linguistic situation in the Edoid areas for ‘…it is frequently assumed that all who claim Edo must of necessity be speaking the same language.’ Records show that the language is spoken natively throughout most of the territory coterminous with the Benin Division of the former Mid-Western State of Nigeria which has now been demarcated into the Oredo, Orhiomwon, Ovia North and Ovia North East Local Government Areas. The estimated area of the main territory of the speech area is put at about 10,372 square kilometers while the 1963 population figure is put at 429,907 (Agheyisi, 1986:v). A small proportion of

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto the population is said to constitute the non-Ẹdo immigrants who are either permanently or temporarily resident in the area. Records also show that there are other native speakers of the language resident in Okitikpukpa and Akure areas of Ondo State. Thousands of persons, especially those with Esan and Afemai native language background are estimated as speaking Ẹdo as a second language. The main Ẹdo speech community is said to be generally homogenous even though some speech peculiarities have been observed with inhabitants of boundary communities such as Oza. Agheyisi states that all the different varieties are mutually intelligible.

Ọwan The name ‘Ọwan’ refers to the Northern Edo group of people whose speech variety is identified as the dialect cluster of Emai- Ora-Iuleha (Elugbe 1989:26) and whose principal village is Afuze. Beyond this immediate classification, Emai is a member of the Kwa division of the Niger-Cong family of languages. Schaefer and Egbokhare (1999:1) state that the speech variety is spoken by approximately 30,000-40,000 persons of the clan and used across 12 villages including Afuze, Evbiame, Okpokhumi, Ojavun, Uule, Ogute, Ovbionmwun and Uanhumi. The Emai speaking area is said to cover roughly 250 square kilometers on the plateau between Edion and Ọwan rivers of present day Ẹdo State. For the purpose of the present study, the dialect cluster Emai-Ora-Iuleha proposed by Elugbe and which is immediate neighbour to Esan, to the immediate right of the classificatory chart, is referred to as ‘Ọwan’ for ease of reference. According to Schaefer (1987:1), this dialect cluster is not known by any indigenous name. Further in that regard, this work depends heavily on data from Emai which literature shows to be the most studied

Journal of Linguistics, Language and Culture Vol. 4 2017 and probably most widely used of the three varieties which constitute the dialect cluster. This decision is further buttressed by the fact that in line with the linguistic relationship that defines dialects of a language, the classification of Ora, Emai and Iuleha as a dialect cluster suggests that mutual intelligibility between them is not low enough to regard them as separate languages. Further in that regard, Schaefer and Egbokhare (1999) state: While published evidence supporting linguistic relationship among these dialects is minimal, broader classificatory schemes have accepted the cluster interpretation, e.g. Hansford, Bendor-Samuel and Stanford (1976), Bendor- Samuel(1989) and Crozier and Blench (1992). Schaefer and Egbokhare(1999, p.1)

Literature also shows that Ora- Emai-Iuleha are spoken in Ọwan East and West Local Government Areas of Edo State. For these reasons and ease of reference therefore, this dialect cluster is referred to as Ọwan in this study.

Goal and scope The goal of this paper is to identify phonetic features which distinguish Esan from other Edoid languages closest to it, and at a larger range, determine the phonetic differences and similarities between the selected languages. This goal is further driven by the dearth of micro-comparative studies of the languages that comprise Elugbe’s (1989) Edoid. One of the premises on which the justification for this study is based is the observation that Elugbe’s work did not have sufficient data on some of the languages which he worked on. Specifically on Esan, for example, he states, “I have unfortunately no data on Esan, though I have read Akpamu’s (1971) phonology of one of the Esan dialects.”Thus, the absence of

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto illustrations from Esan in that work is obviously a result of the dearth of data on Esan as stated by him. Further in this regard, the author did not seem to have any significant information on the tonal behavior of any of the Edoid languages he worked on. In that regard, he further states:

It has to be pointed out that in most cases, my examination of tone could not have been anything but superficial since I had only a week within which to collect my data in the relevant area. In a group of languages in which tone and syntax are deeply intertwined, one would require a deeper study of the languages concerned to be able to make categorical statements about tone systems. Elugbe (1989, p. 48)

It is on the bases of these gaps in previous comparative studies on these languages that the value of the present study is justified. The linguistic features of interest in this work are the sound and tonetic features of the languages of interest.

Methodology The sources of data for this work are both primary and secondary. The direct interview method of investigation is adopted for collection of lexicon based data from native speakers of the selected languages. Tones are compulsorily marked on all speech forms collected. Available data are transcribed in phonetic tradition using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) format of transcription. Secondary data for this study are sourced from previous works on the three languages of focus in this work. Such previous efforts concern the sound and tonal systems of these languages. A

Journal of Linguistics, Language and Culture Vol. 4 2017 comparative analysis of these phonetic features of these languages is conducted. The results of analysis of available data are presented and discussed in the sections that follow.

The sound inventories of Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan In this section, the sound inventories of the 3 Ẹdoid languages under focus are presented as follows.

Vowel sounds Available data revealed that Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan share an identical vowel sound inventory. This inventory comprises seven oral and five nasal vowels (Omozuwa1993, Egbokhare 1999, Ejele1982). This vowel sound inventory is presented in Table I.

Table I: Vowel sound inventory of Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan place front/nasal central/nasal back/nasal manner High i ĩ u ũ Mid e o Half mid ε Low a ã

Consonant sounds and tone The differences in sound inventories between these languages emerged in their consonant sound and tonal inventories .The consonant sound and tonal inventories of Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan are presented as follows.

Consonant sound and tonal inventories of Esan

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto

28 consonant phones are identified for Esan. This position is corroborated in Ikoyo-Eweto (2012). The language did not feature the alveolar affricates [ts,dz] as postulated in Elugbe (1989). These consonant phones are presented in Table II.

Table II: Esan consonant sound inventory place bilabi labi alveol alve palat vela labio- glott manne al o- ar o al r velar al r dent palat al al

Plosive p b t d k kp h g gb Fricati Β f v s z ʃ х ɣ ve ʒ

Affrica ʧ ʤ te Nasal M ɱ n ɲ

Lateral l Trill r Glide ј w

Tone in Esan Esan exhibits the high (H), low (L), rising (LH) and falling (HL) tones at the systematic phonetic level. These occurrences are corroborated in Ejele (2002, 2003a) Osiruemu (2005) states that the tonal patterns which occur on Esan lexical categories are so incisive that they cut across all lexical classes in the language. Tonal patterns on bi-syllabic words are shown to be HL, LL, HHL, LHL, and on tri-syllabic words are HHL, HLL, LLL, LHL, HLH

Journal of Linguistics, Language and Culture Vol. 4 2017 and HLHL. Esan does not exhibit an all H lexical tone pattern. Specifically, Esan lexical items do not exhibit a final H tone. All H tones in final position drop to a L, an occurrence which sometimes results in a falling (F) contour tone. Data in Table III illustrate sounds and tonal patterning in Esan.

Table III: Lexical items illustrating sound and tonal patterning in Esan. Esan Lexical items tone pattern gloss i. [unù] HL mouth ii. [àmὲ] LL water iii. [ xwô] HF woman iv. [àbâ] HHL father v. [έkέlè] HHL stomach vi. [árằlε] HLL blood HLF underwear [בvii. [ágbà viii. [íɣô] HHL money LLL duck [בix. [ìzàgw x. [agógò] LHL bell

Consonant sound and tonal inventories of Ẹdo Edo language features 27 consonant sounds in its phonetic inventory. This position is corroborated in Omozuwa (2003).

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto

Table IV: Ẹdo consonant sound inventory Place bilabia labio- alveola palata vela labio- glotta Manner l denta r l r velar l l Plosive p b t d k kp H g gb Fricativ β f s z х e v ɣ Affricat e Nasal m ɱ n ɲ ŋw Lateral ɹ l Trill ṛ r Glide Ј W

Tone in Ẹdo The lexical tones of Ẹdo are high (H) and low (L) and the Rising contour tone (R). These phonetic tones co-occur freely to form the following patterns on lexical items in the language: HH, LL, LH. These occurences are confirmed in Omozuwa (1996:185) and Adeniyi (2000).The occurrence of a down drift in pitch level of a sequence of L tones in the language is also confirmed in Omozuwa (1996). Table V is a presentation of some data illustrating sounds and lexical tonal patterning in the Ẹdo language.

Table V: Lexical items illustrating sound and tonal patterning in Ẹdo Ẹdo lexical items tone pattern gloss xi. [íɣ ] HH money xii. [àkɔ] LL tooth

Journal of Linguistics, Language and Culture Vol. 4 2017 xiii. [ówá] HH market shop xiv. [òwá] LH house xv. [ákpátá] HHH harp xvi. [áhjáɱε᷈] HHL bird xvii. [làré] LH come

Consonant sounds and tonal inventories of Ọwan The following 28 consonant sounds are identified for Ọwan.

Table VI: Consonant sounds of Ọwan place bilabi labio alveolar alveo palat velar labio- glott manne al - palat al velar al r dent al al plosive p b t d k kp gb h g fricati β f s z ʃ ʒ х ve v ɣ affrica ʧ ʤ te nasal m n ɲ ŋw

lateral l trill r glide ј W

Tone in Ọwan Identified Emai lexical tones include high (H) and low (L). These tones combined within lexical nouns, adjectives and post-verbal adverbs to form the following patterns: LL, LH, HL, HH, HHH, LHL, LLH. A downdrifting of a sequence of H is also attested in the language. These occurrences are corroborated in Schaefer and

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto

Egbokhare (1999). Data in Table VII illustrate sounds and tonal patterning in Ọwan.

Table VII: Lexical items illustrating sound and tonal patterning in Ọwan

Ọwan lexical items tone pattern gloss xviii. [àsí] LH snuff xviii. [ásͻ] HL night xix. [ὰrừrứ] LLH ceiling xx. [ὰkpόkὰ] LHL bone xxi. [ébό] HH kit and kin xxii. édíό] HHH elders xxiii. [bόbόbό] HHH widely xxiv. [ὰzὰ] LL treasury

Results of data analysis and discussion A simple comparison of available data on the sound and tonal inventories of Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan presented in the preceding section, shows that these Edoid languages display certain phonetic features which show their relatedness. An identification of this relatedness between these Edoid languages is made feasible only by a close examination of the identified linguistic features such as that provided by the present study. That this relatedness exists is confirmed by their earlier grouping as members of the same language subgroup. The question that this study seeks to propose answers to therefore is what the specific nature of this relatedness is at the phonetic level of description. In other words, the difference between earlier broad groupings and the present study is

Journal of Linguistics, Language and Culture Vol. 4 2017 a matter of details at the narrow phonetic level of description. Some of the details of the relatedness exhibited by these Edoid languages are presented as follows. Relatedness in sound and tonal inventories between Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan languages A comparison of speech sound and tonal inventories of Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan revealed the following linguistic relatedness between them. (i) As earlier stated, the three languages feature an identical vowel sound inventory (see section 2.1). In other words, no difference is recorded in the components of the vowel sound inventories of each language. This feature could be interpreted as a strong index of linguistic similarity between these languages, taking into consideration the central role of the vowel component of speech. This feature would serve as a strong indication for studies on mutual intelligibility between these languages. (ii) Where Esan and Ọwan featured 28 consonant phones each (see Tables II and VI) Edo featured 27 (see Table IV). As these generalizations obviously do not reflect details of the relatedness in consonant sound inventories between these languages, a closer comparison provides the following insights. a. Ọwan language lacks the labio-dental nasal [ɱ] which Ẹdo and Esan feature. b. Esan lacks the labio-velar nasal [ŋw] which Ẹdo and Ọwan featured. c. The palatal fricatives [ʃ, ʒ] and their affricate counterparts [ʧ,ʤ] which feature in the sound inventories of Esan and Ọwan are conspicuously absent in the sound inventory of Ẹdo. 80

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto d. Unlike Esan and Ọwan which feature only one type of alveolar trill, [r], Ẹdo feature three - [r, ṛ ] and the alveolar lateral approximant [ ɹ, ]. Tonal differences between Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan languages Tonal differences between the three Edoid languages are identified as follows: (i). Available data showed that only Esan language features a falling contour tone phonetically (see Table III). (ii). Data also showed that, unlike Ẹdo and Ọwan languages, Esan tonal system does not feature an all high tonal pattern on lexical items. (iii). The feature identified in 3.2 (ii) is a probable explanation for the absence of the downdrifting (DD) of level H tones in Esan as featured in Ẹdo and Ọwan languages. (iv). Ẹdo and Ọwan languages feature final H tone on lexical items whereas the Esan language does not exhibit this tonal phenomenon. Specifically, all high tones in final position drop to a falling tone in latter. This occurrence could be explained as a structural guard to ensure that this non- occurrence of an all H in the language is retained.

Conclusions and recommendations This study is comparative. Its main goal is to identify some phonetic peculiarities of Esan, Ẹdo and Ọwan languages. These members of Elugbe’s Proto North Central Edoid belong to one cluster and immediately follow, one after the other, on the classificatory chart (see Figure I).The impetus for this study is the dearth of micro comparisons between members of the Ẹdoid group of languages. A close study of earlier groupings also shows that available data were insufficient for reaching some conclusions

Journal of Linguistics, Language and Culture Vol. 4 2017 about these languages. This study therefore sought to close some of these perceived gaps in the broad language groupings of Ẹdoid. Both primary and secondary sources were harnessed for the collection of data for this study, which was lexicon based. Simple comparative analysis of available data conducted between these languages showed some details of phonetic relatedness. This relatedness is interpreted in this study as comprising both similarities as well as differences in phonetic features of sounds and tone pattern. Comparative analysis of available data showed that the identified features spanned the phonetic and tonetic compositions of their sound inventories (see section 3). These differences and similarities are captured and summarized in Table VIII as follows.

Table VIII: Summary of phonetic and tonetic similarities and differences between Esan, Ẹdo, and Ọwan languages

variable Esan Ẹdo Ọwan no. of vowel 12 12 12 sounds no. of consonant 28 27 28 sounds differences in [ɱ, ʃ , ʒ,ʧ,ʤ] [ɱ,ŋw, ɹ, ṛ [ŋw,ʃ ,ʒ, consonant ] ʧ,ʤ] sounds differences in Nil nil nil vowel sounds differences in Nil down down drift tonal patterns nil drift all high nil all high final high falling final high nil 82

Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto

contour nil

A summary of the findings from this study as presented in Table VIII shows that the Edoid languages of Esan, Ẹdo and the dialect cluster of Ora-Emai-Iuleha (Ọwan in this study. See section1.3) exhibit interesting relatedness, which translate into similarities as well as differences between them. All three languages show what may be referred to as ‘total affinity’ in their vowel sound inventory (see Table I). Esan and Ọwan featured 28 consonant phones while Ẹdo featured 27. Details of comparative analysis however showed that the languages exhibit more far reaching differences in their consonant sound inventories (see section 3). A comparison of tonetic features showed what could be described as the major difference between Esan, on the one hand and Ẹdo and Ọwan on the other. In this regard, Ẹdo and Ọwan languages would be described as more closely related than either of them is to Esan. This study has identified some details of the micro linguistic relatedness between three languages of the Proto North Central sub group of the Ẹdoid group of languages. It is a contribution to comparative study of members of broad language groups. Further such studies on Edoid would clarify certain grey areas concerning the relatedness between its constituent languages and dialects, a domain where published evidence seems minimal. These studies would also enhance the documentation of such languages.

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Phonetic Differences between Esan and Selected Edoid Languages - Ikoyo-Eweto

A Structural Dialectology of Esan. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis. Ibadan: University of Ibadan. 2010 Scheafer and Egbokhare.eds. Oral Tradition Narratives of the Emai people. Hamburg-London: Lit Verlag Munster.1999

Evarista Ofure Ikoyo-Eweto Department of Linguistics Studies University of Benin, Benin City