Igboid language
Igboid languages constitute a branch of the Volta–Niger language family. The subgroups are:
*Ekpeye
* Nuclear Igboid: Igbo, Ikwerre, Ika, Ngwa, Izii–Ikwo–Ezza– Mgbo, Ogba and Ukwuani-Aboh-Ndoni
Williamson and Blench conclude that t ...
spoken primarily by the
Ngwa people
Ngwa people (''Ṅgwà'' ), an Igboid tribe in south eastern part of Nigeria. It's also the largest and most populous ethnic group in Abia state southeastern Nigeria. They occupy an area of about , although some accounts read at least . In 1979, t ...
of
Abia state
Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to ...
The ngwa dialect shares similar alphabets with the Igbo but with additional alphabet.
The tones are indicated with diacritics:
* the high tone is indicated by the absence of a diacritic: ;
* the low tone is indicated with the grave accent : ;
* the falling tone is indicated with the circumflex accent : ;
* the
downstep
Downstep is a phenomenon in tone languages in which if two syllables have the same tone (for example, both with a high tone or both with a low tone), the second syllable is lower in pitch than the first.
Two main kinds of downstep can be disting ...