Grapheme Data for Iceve-Maci written with Latin script
The data shown below represents the graphemes and phonemes for Iceve-Maci. In particular, it represents the Oliti (or Ici) dialect, from which the examples are drawn, although the Bacheve dialect differs very little.
The sounds indicated are phonemes, not actual phones. The phonemes /s/, /ts/ and /dz/ each have a palatalised allophone (resp. [ʃ], [tʃ] and [dʒ]) that occurs before certain dialect-dependent vowels that include at least /i/, /e/ and /ia/. Both /ɰ/ and /v/ are often reduced to one of the approximants [ɰ], [w] or [j], conditioned by the preceding vowel, particularly when they occur in noun suffixes. These are treated as allophones of /ɰ/ and /v/, despite the same phones also occurring in the phonemes /w/ and /j/. Simiarly, the realisation of /a/ when it occurs in prefixes has several realisations, some of which resemble other phonemes, such as /e/.
Vowels may be doubled in writing Iceve. This represents a sequence of two short vowels, rather than a separate long vowel phoneme. It is not separately illustrated in the data.
Diacritics are used to represent grammatical tone. This is not represented in the data.
See Iceve Orthography (Cox 2023) and A Phonological Overview of Iceve-Maci (Cox 2013) for further details.
Contributor: Bruce Cox
| Grapheme | USV | Phoneme | Status | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <ai> | 0061 0069 | /ai/ | rare | baptais ‘baptise’ | Only in borrowed words. |
| <a> | 0061 | /a/ | expected | akpa ‘box’ | |
| <bw> | 0062 0077 | /bʷ/ | expected | bwap ‘broad’, ɛbwal ‘baggy’ | |
| <b> | 0062 | /b/ | expected | bem ‘slow’, obe ‘law’, cɛb ‘true’ | |
| <cw> | 0063 0077 | /tsʷ/ | expected | cwa ‘accuse’, icwe ‘shame’ | |
| <c> | 0063 | /ts/ | expected | ɔcalɛ ‘bridge’, cile ‘cover’ | |
| <d> | 0064 | /d/ | expected | de ‘stop’, ɛdɛma ‘road’ | |
| <e> | 0065 | /e/ | expected | izembi ‘axe’, atimbile ‘squirrel’ | |
| <fw> | 0066 0077 | /f/ | expected | ofufwe ‘wife’ | Labialised in environment u_e |
| <fw> | 0066 0077 | /fʷ/ | expected | fwap ‘shallow’ | |
| <f> | 0066 | /f/ | expected | falɛ ‘untie’, ifofu ‘debt’, kaf ‘hoe’ | |
| <gb> | 0067 0062 | /g͡b/ = /g/ ͡ /b/ | expected | gbeli ‘clear’, ogbologbo ‘dragonfly’ | |
| <gh> | 0067 0068 | /ɰ/ | expected | sɛgha ‘rejoice’, mɛyegh ‘lesson’ | |
| <gw> | 0067 0077 | /gʷ/ | expected | ɛgwa ‘uncle’ | |
| <g> | 0067 | /g/ | expected | gɔlʉ ‘agree’, ɛgalɛ ‘fence’ | |
| <h> | 0068 | /h/ | expected | hee ‘begin’, ɛhambɛl ‘centipede’ | Mostly used in Ici dialect. |
| <ia> | 0069 0061 | /ja/ | expected | ɛfiaavɛ ‘lie’, lia ‘cry’ | |
| <ia> | 0069 0061 | /a/ | common | asiavɛl ‘fishing line’, cia ‘be afraid’ | After the palatalised allophone of ‹s›, ‹c› or ‹z› only. |
| <ie> | 0069 0065 | /e/ | uncommon | kie ‘share’ | Non-phonemic [i] is sometimes inserted between velar stops and /e/, mostly in Ici dialect. |
| <io> | 0069 006F | /o/ | rare | cioo ‘no way!’ | |
| <i> | 0069 | /i/ | expected | ovile ‘palm tree’, ogbendi ‘parlour’ | |
| <kp> | 006B 0070 | /k͡p/ = /k/ ͡ /p/ | expected | kpiili ‘tie’, ɔkpʉmʉ ‘bottle’ | |
| <kw> | 006B 0077 | /kʷ/ | expected | kwo ‘die’, ɛkwalɛghɛ ‘fingernail’ | |
| <k> | 006B | /k/ | expected | kam ‘squeeze’, ɔkambɛ ‘rope’ | |
| <l> | 006C | /l/ | expected | lii ‘look for’, ilolu ‘beard’, avel ‘hunting net’ | |
| <mbw> | 006D 0062 0077 | /ᵐb/ | expected | okumbwe ‘storm’ | Labialised in environment u_e |
| <mb> | 006D 0062 | /ᵐb/ | expected | mbɛla ‘heap up’, itimbe ‘house’, ɛvamb ‘antelope’ | |
| <mgb> | 006D 0067 0062 | /ᵑg͡b/ = /ᵑg/ ͡ /b/ | expected | mgbʉwa ‘crash’, kpʉmgbɛlɛ ‘approach’ | |
| <mw> | 006D 0077 | /m/ | expected | yumwe ‘pierce’ | Labialised in environment u_e |
| <mw> | 006D 0077 | /mʷ/ | expected | mwem ‘all’ | |
| <m> | 006D | /m/ | expected | mati ‘calf of leg’, ɔtʉmʉ ‘work’, ɔciam ‘friend’ | |
| <nd> | 006E 0064 | /ⁿd/ | expected | ndalɛ ‘like’, ozindi ‘journey’, agund ‘cow’ | |
| <ny> | 006E 0079 | /ᶮj/ | expected | nyandɛ ‘trample’, ɛnyɛghɛ ‘tooth’ | |
| <nz> | 006E 007A | /ⁿdz/ | expected | ɛnzɔ ‘debt’, nzighe ‘pulverise’ | |
| <n> | 006E | /n/ | expected | na ‘give’, ɛnʉnʉ ‘bird’, ɔmbɔn ‘path’ | |
| <o> | 006F | /o/ | expected | igose ‘green mamba’, ato ‘bungalow’ | |
| <p> | 0070 | /p/ | expected | pɛsa ‘polish’, ɔpavɛ ‘cockroach’ | |
| <sw> | 0073 0077 | /sʷ/ | expected | sweŋ ‘silent’, ɔswaŋɛ ‘compound’ | |
| <s> | 0073 | /s/ | expected | saŋgɛ ‘write’, isi ‘eye’, ɛkas ‘sifter’ | |
| <t> | 0074 | /t/ | expected | te ‘show’, itumu ‘bundle’, ɛkpɛt ‘dregs’ | |
| <u> | 0075 | /u/ | expected | ikule ‘guinea corn’, ofolu ‘soup’ | |
| <v> | 0076 | /v/ | expected | va ‘come’, ivu ‘goat’, ɛkɛv ‘example’ | |
| <w> | 0077 | /w/ | expected | wanɛ ‘child’, ɛwa ‘dog’, ɛzɔw ‘mushroom’ | |
| <y> | 0079 | /j/ | expected | ya ‘eat’, ɛyɔŋ ‘snake’ | |
| <zw> | 007A 0077 | /dzʷ/ | expected | zwaŋɛ ‘join’ | |
| <z> | 007A | /dz/ | expected | zɛnda ‘chase’, iziŋ ‘fly’ | |
| <ŋgw> | 014B 0067 0077 | /ᵑg/ | expected | ŋgwa ‘hear’, ɛŋgwan ‘mother’ | |
| <ŋg> | 014B 0067 | /ᵑg/ | expected | ŋgoolu ‘scrape’, ɛyʉŋgʉ ‘honey’, akaŋg ‘head-scarf’ | |
| <ŋm> | 014B 006D | /ŋ͡m/ = /ŋ/ ͡ /m/ | rare | ɔŋmaŋa ‘face-dye plant’ | |
| <ŋw> | 014B 0077 | /ᵐw/ | expected | ŋwaghɛ ‘roast’, aŋwa ‘cat’ | |
| <ŋ> | 014B | /ŋ/ | expected | ɛzɛŋɛ ‘egg’, ɔlɔŋ ‘trousers’ | |
| <ɔ> | 0254 | /ɔ/ | expected | ɛŋgɔl ‘money’, ɛsɔ ‘elephant’ | |
| <ɛ> | 025B | /ɪ̈/ | expected | ɔvɛla ‘rain’, ɛsalɛ ‘broom’ | |
| <ʉ> | 0289 | /ʊ/ | expected | ɔnʉl ‘person’, ɛmʉ ‘speech’ |