The Rigwe language, Nkarigwe, is a Plateau language of Nigeria spoken by the Irigwe people mainly found in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Rigwe has highly complex phonology.Blench, Roger M. 2018. Nominal affixes and number marking in the Plateau languages of Central Nigeria. In John R. Watters (ed.), East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs, 107–172. Berlin: Language Science Press. The presence of the lateral fricative /ɬ/ in Rigwe, unusual among Plateau languages, suggests that there used to be West Chadic languages in the area with this phoneme.Blench, Roger (2022). Contact between West Chadic and Plateau languages: new evidence languages: new evidence. 11-12 November 2022, presentation given at Universität Wien.
Phonology Rigwe phonology:
+Rigwe ConsonantsBilabialLabiodentalDentalAlveolarPalato-alveolar(Alveolo-)PalatalVelarLabial–velar/ Glottalplainpl.plainpal.plainpl.plainpl.plainplainpl.plainplainpalNasalmʲmʷɱ, ɲːɲʷŋʷ, ŋʷʲStoppʲcʲcʷˀckʷˀkˀkp, ˀbbʲɟɟʲɟʷɡʷˀɡʷˀɡbFricativefʲ, ˀsʃʷ, ˀʃʷhʲvʲððʲʒʷAffricatepstsʲt̠ʃt̠ʃʷtɕtɕʷd̠ʒd̠ʒʷApproximantɬjʷˀjʍʍʲˀʍ, ˀʍʲTapɾɾʲɾʷTrillʙrrʲrʷ +Rigwe VowelsFrontCentralBackOralNasalOralNasalOralNasalCloseClose-midOpen +Rigwe TonesTonemeHigh˦Mid˧Mid-low˨Low˩
References
External links Roger Blench: Rigwe page