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Kiong language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kiong
Kayon
Akoiyang
Native toNigeria
RegionCross River State
Ethnicity570 Akayon (no date)[1]
Native speakers
8 (2010)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kkm
Glottologkion1242
ELPKiong

Kiong, or Kayon, is a nearly extinct Upper Cross River language of Nigeria. Okoyong speakers of the Kiong language are geographically located in the Odukpani and Akamkpa region of Cross River State. This language was documented in 1990s, and it have 25 speakers counted in 1998. But in 2010, only 8 elders were able to speak Kiong (all in the 70s), leaving the language critically endangered/nearly extinct.

Phonology

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Consonants[2]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labiovelar
Plosive b t d k kp
Fricative f s x
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Approximant w r j
  • /b/ is unvoiced [p] word-finally.
  • /x/ can be heard as [h~ʁ].
  • /ŋ/ is labialized [ŋʷ] syllable-initially.
Vowels[2]
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid-high e o
Mid-low ɔ ɔː
Low a

Kiong also has four tones;[2] high, low, rising, and falling.

References

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  1. ^ a b Kiong at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b c Okon, Margaret Mary P.; Noah, Paulinus (2018). "Preliminaries to Kiong Orthography". Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies. 6 (2).
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