Glottolog guer1240 | Native speakers 320,000 (1998–1999) | |
Language family Niger–CongoAtlantic–CongoKruWestern KruWeeGuere–KrahnGuéré ISO 639-3 Either:gxx – Central Gere (Southern Wee)wec – Neyo (Western Wee) | ||
Guéré (Gere), also called Wè (Wee), is a Kru language spoken by over 300,000 people in the Dix-Huit Montagnes and Moyen-Cavally regions of Ivory Coast.
Contents
Phonology
The phonology of Guere (here the Zagna dialect of Central Guere / Southern Wè) is briefly sketched out below.
Consonants
The consonant phonemes are as follows:
Allophones of some of these phonemes include:
In addition, while the nasal consonants /m, n/ and contrast with /ɓ/ and /l/ before oral vowels, and are thus separate phonemes, before nasal vowels only the nasal consonants occur. /ɓ/ and /l/ do not occur before nasal vowels, suggesting that historically a phonemic merger between these sounds and the nasals /m, n/ may have occurred in this position.
Vowels
Like many West African languages, Guere makes use of a contrast between vowels with advanced tongue root and those with retracted tongue root. In addition, nasal vowels contrast phonemically with oral vowels.
Tones
Guere is a tonal language and contrasts ten tones: