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Eleme

Eleme is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in Nigeria.

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Eleme · 4.7°N 7.3°E

Eleme is a language spoken by Eleme people in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Eleme is a Niger-Congo language spoken by approximately 40–50,000 speakers in Rivers State in southeast Nigeria. It belongs to the Ogonoid (also known as Ogoni or Kegboid) language group, within the Cross River branch of Benue-Congo. The Eleme language was originally divided into two mutual dialects of Nchia and Odido. Nchia was spoken in six communities (Agbonchia, Akpajo, Alesa, Aleto, Alode and Ogale) while the Odido dialect was spoken in Ebubu, Ekporo, Eteo and Onne. Today, both dialects have converged, with a few varying pronunciations.

A unique feature of Eleme is that it uses reduplication to negate verbs.

From Wikipedia · Eleme language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in Eleme

MeaningWordRomanization
persononE*
nameabe*
eyeade*
earoto*
nosembio*
toothada*
tongueadidE*
handobo*
bloodmi*
bonekpogo*
skinEkpa*
breastmima*
waterm̀mṹ
firensa*
sunmgbe*
staresuri*
stonen5adE*
treeete*
nightndE*
dogmgbao*
fishnzira*
louseeCu*
onenE*
twoobErE*
Iami*
youa7o*
weEbai*
drinkwa*
seemo*
hearda*

* in the simplified ASJP transcription

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

  • BaanAtlantic-Congo62% alike
  • GokanaAtlantic-Congo37% alike
  • TeeAtlantic-Congo34% alike
  • KhanaAtlantic-Congo33% alike
  • OgbiaAtlantic-Congo19% alike
  • KugboAtlantic-Congo18% alike

Grammar

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

Nearby languages

Elsewhere

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Glottolog · elem1253 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · elm