Ceve (Iceve), or Iceve-Maci, is a Tivoid language of the Cameroons. The divergent dialects are Ceve proper (Becheve), and Maci (Matchi, Oliti).

Ceve
Oliti
Iceve
Native toCameroon, Nigeria
Native speakers
(12,000 cited 1990)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bec
Glottologicev1238
Ceve[2]
PeopleBaceve
LanguageIceve

Writing system

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Iceve-Maci Alphabet[3]
a b c d e ɛ f g gb gh h i k kp l m n ŋ o ɔ p s t u ʉ v w y z
Digraphs mb nd ng ny nz ŋw ŋm
IPA mb nd ŋg nj ndz ŋw ŋm
Trigraph mgb
IPA ŋmgb

[4]

Tone indication

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Notation á à or a â ă àâ
Tone description High Low Falling Rising Falling-rising

[4]

Phonology

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[4]

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar/Postalveolar Palatal Velar Labiovelar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ ŋm
Plosive p b mb t d ⁿd k g ŋg kp gb ŋmgb
Affricate t͡s ~ t͡ʃ d͡z ~ d͡ʒ ⁿd͡z
Fricative f v s ~ ʃ h
Approximant l j ɲj w ⁿw

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Near-close ʊ
Close-mid e o
Open/Open-mid a ɔ

Tones

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There are 5 tones: high, low, falling, rising and rising-falling.

References

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  1. ^ Ceve at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  3. ^ "Va, Sayegh Iceve!". SIL International. 15 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Iceve-Maci language and alphabet". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.