| Abstract: |
Genetically, Oro which is spoken in Akwa-Ibom State of Nigeria, in the part of the south-south region often referred to as Niger–Delta, belongs to the larger Niger-Congo language phylum, to which Benue-Congo and Delta-Cross are the sub-branches, (Greenberg 1963). Oro, often anglicized Oron, is one of the richest tonal languages in the world with five tones: high, low, mid, falling and rising tones, of which the first three are the basic. There are also cases of ‘automatic’ and ‘nonautomatic’ downsteps in Oro. Like in most tonal languages, tones in Oro can be used to perform both lexical and grammatical functions. The dichotomy between register tone languages and contour tone languages shows that Oro is basically a registered tone language because the tones in Oro are often level in each syllable. Moreover, tone modification in Oro can be phonologically motivated. For example, a low tone which precedes a high tone has the effect of slightly lowering that high tone; and the lowering influence of a low tone on a high tone can extend beyond word boundary.The study of Oro has been overlooked by many researchers due to the dominating influence of Efik on the languages around it. Efik, seen as the Romance language of West Africa has held in slavery, so to speak, several other dialects and languages within and around its domain. Its strategic location near the Atlantic coast had made Efik easily accessible to European explorers, exporters and missionaries which invariably led to its early description and influence down to this day. While Ibibio speakers have made tremendous strides toward their language development, Oro speakers are yet to follow suit. It is with this in mind this paper attempts to x-ray tonal features in Oro and also establish the basic tones inherent in the language. |
EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
