UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF TONE IN Ẹ̀KPEYĒ
Tone is associated with languages that use the pitch of the voice to differentiate the meaning of one word from another.
Ẹ̀kpeyē, is a tone language. In a tone language, pitch is used to distinguish words that have the same spelling but different meanings. Pitch here means how high or low the voice is. In Ẹ̀kpeyē, a word or an expression of the same phonological shape (spelling) is capable of giving more than one meaning depending on the pitch contour with which it is pronounced. In spoken words, this may not pose any problem to native speakers of the language. However, in
written forms, differentiating between two or more words of the same spelling can be problematic.
The form /ẹle/ could be read as ‘land/ground’ or ‘folktale’, if not tone-marked. In the same vein, /ama/ could be read as ‘tarred road’, ‘thunder’ or ‘town crying’. Meanwhile, with tone marks, /ama/ designates three different words as ámā ‘tarred road, àmà ‘thunder’ and ámâ ‘town crying’.The use of tone marks, therefore, is crucial in reading and writing in Ẹ̀kpeyē.
There are four basic tones in Ẹ̀kpéyē. These are the High tone,the Low tone, the Downstepped high tone, which in this contextis treated as the Mid tone, and the Falling tone. Tones are usually borne by the vowels. So, in discussing tones here, we would like to identify them by the number of vowels that are present in a word. In what follows, we present Ẹ̀kpeyē tones one after the other starting with the High tone.
The High Tone
The High tone is the most common in the Ẹ̀kpeyē language. Vowels that carry the High tone are pronounced with high pitch. By convention, the High tone is left unmarked in Ẹ̀kpeyē. This means that any vowel that is written without a tone mark is assumed to carry a High tone. For example, the middle vowel in the spelling of Ẹ̀kpeyē is left unmarked. It is to be pronounced with a high pitch.
The Low Tone
The Low tone is pronounced at a very low pitch. It can follow or be followed by a high tone. The last vowel in ụzù ‘strength’ is said with the Low tone. It can be noticed that this last vowel is pronounced with a far lower pitch than the first which carries a high pitch.
The Mid Tone
This is a mid-level tone that occurs only after a High tone. It is not found at the initial position. Vowels at the initial position are vowels that begin a word. The Mid-tone is assumed to be a high tone that is slightly lowered. It is, however, higher than the Low tone. The final vowel of uzū ‘corpse’ for example, which is a Mid-tone is pronounced with a higher pitch than the final vowel of uzù ‘strength’ with a Low tone. The two words are pronounced with the High tone at their initial positions. When hummed, uzū ‘corpse’ sounds like odō ‘mortar, while uzù ‘strength’ sounds like ụ̣nù ‘fowl’
The Falling Tone
The Falling Tone is a combination of the High tone and the Low tone. It usually occurs on the final vowel of two-syllable words as in ẹkâ ‘hand’. A syllable, in a simple definition, is a unit of pronunciation that can be counted. It typically has a single, unbroken vowel sound within a word. In Ẹ̀kpeyē, nouns are made up of at least two syllable as in ẹkâ ‘hand’. Ẹkâ can actually be divided in this way; ẹ-kâ and counted as two units. There are words of single syllables also. Most verbs in Ẹ̀kpeyē consist of only a single syllable as in ko ‘beat’, sa ‘wash’ gba ‘run’ bha ‘write’ etc.
The Falling tone can follow both the High and Low tones. As the name indicates, it begins with the High tone and falls to the Low tone. The pronunciation of the Falling tone is similar to that found in the final sound of ElijAH, written here in capital letter.
In what follows, the different tones are presented with examples of their occurrences on vowels, beginning with the High tone.
High + High
Here, words that are pronounced with two High tones are presented.
(a) iyi ‘yam’
(b) ewu ‘rabbit’
(c) ụwọ ‘belly’
(d) uke ‘disease’
(e) uko ‘leg’
(e) ịka ‘farm’
(f) ịda ‘father’
(g) ị̣na ‘mother’
(h) ẹma ‘breast’
(i) ekwe ‘drum
(j) ikpu ‘ shout’
(k) iku ‘ lid’
(l) ị̣hwa ‘wooden plate’
(m) ịkwa ‘cry’
(n) ụkpa ‘fish/meat’
(o) ẹnwu ‘death’
(p) akpa ‘faeces’
As a native speaker, you have noticed that all the words given in 1(a-p) are pronounced with the same pitch, both at the initial and final positions. If you try humming the words, they will sound as if you are pronouncing just one word.
We can think of other two-syllable words of High tones that can be added to the above.
High + Low
Words here are pronounced with a high pitch at the initial position and a low pitch at the final position. Examples are shown in 2.
(a) ụnù ‘fowl’
(b) uzù ‘strength
(c)’ ugwù ‘palm frond’
(d) enà ‘sugary fruit’ ?
(e) idè ‘soldier ant’
(f) inè ‘sweetness’
When hummed or whistled, these words sound alike just like those in 1(a-p)
High + Mid Tone
(a) ugwū ‘thorn/lice’
(b) izē ‘tooth’
(c) minī ‘water’
(d) edhī ‘rope’
(e) ụhwō ‘leaf’
(f) ewē ‘grasses’
(g) ebē ‘weavil’
(h) obō ‘basket’ ?
(i) inwē ‘hunger
To ascertain if two or more words are of the same tonal make-up, hum or whistle them. If they do not sound alike, then they obviously have different tones.
High + Falling Tone
(a) ẹkâ ‘hand’
(b) ụdhô ‘house’
(c) ogbô ‘back’
(d) ẹgbû ‘smell’
(e) ugwê ‘neck’
(f) izê ‘journey’
(g) ẹlê ‘land/ground’
(h) ọgwô ‘snake’
(i) ẹ́bâ ‘alligator’
High + high + low
(a) aɡbadà ‘bed’
(b) uwelè ‘wind’
(c) ekelè ‘time’
(d) oyukwè ‘morning’
(e) ịnohwà ‘gorilla’
(f) ekpemà ‘heart’
(g) ụ̣bhọhwụ̀ ‘period’
The Low Tone
Low + Low
- (g) ògè ‘matchete’
(c) àpà ‘tilapia’
(d) ègbè ‘trap’
(e) ụ̀dhọ̀ ‘clay’
(f) ùbhè ‘time/period’
(g) òkpè ‘road’
(h) ènwè ‘monkey’
(I) àɡbà ‘cheek’
(J) ʊ̀là ‘village’
(k) ẹ̀lè ‘folktale’
Low + High
- (a) ìʒi ‘husband’
(b) nwụ̀ne ‘one’
(c) ìkpi ‘billy-goat’
(d) ọ̣̀gbọ ‘bat’
(e) ẹ̣̀sẹ ‘squirrel’
Low + Falling
- (a) ùdhû ‘hole’
- ụ̀kwâ ‘egg’
(c) ùbê ‘pear’
- ụ̀kâ ‘length’
- ụ̀sâ ‘whiteness
Low + Low + Low
- (a) ìkpèlè ‘lizard’
(b) ịdẹ̀nɪ̀ ‘plantain’
(c) ùgbòlò ‘work’
(d) ọ̀dèlè ‘vulture’
(e) ùgbùlù ‘swamp’
Low + High + Low
- (a) ùkomà ‘man’
(b) ùnyomà ‘woman’
(c) èleshì ‘pigeon’
The Mid Tone
As stated earlier, the Mid tone usually occurs after a High tone and examples of its occurrence in two-syllable words have been given in 3(a-i). Examples of its occurrence in three-syllable words are shown in 10.
- (a) ẹwechị̄ ‘ash’
(i) ị̵zazā ‘broom’
(c) ẹ̀kɪdhī ‘throat’
(d) ẹ̀lanwụ̄ ‘sun’
The Falling Tone
The Falling Tone + High Tone
. 11. (a) ishî ‘head’
(b) egbê ‘kite’
(c) ẹ̣kâ ‘hand’
(d) íɗô ‘tongue’
(h) íɡwû ‘stone’
(k) ọɡwộ ‘snake’
(l) ụɡbɔ̂ ‘canoe’
(i) éɲî ‘elephant’
The Falling Tone + Low Tone
12.(e) ùɗû ‘hole’
(g) ùpî ‘face’
(j) ẹ̀lɪ̂ ‘body
The Falling tone is found to occur only at the final position of two-syllable words. The authenticity of this claim, however, is subject to more discoveries of some words which the writer is yet to be acquainted with. So, more data are needed here.
This work is about learning the different tones that occur in Ẹ̀kpeyē and their patterns on nouns. Applying our knowledge as native speakers and using the humming or whistling exercise, we will find this work interesting.
Written by: Uwuma Doris Ugwu PhD
