{{Short description|Edoid language spoken in Nigeria}} {{redirect|Afenmai|the ethnic group|Afemai people}} {{Infobox language |name=Yekhee |altname=Afenmai<br>Kukuruku (outdated) |nativename=''Etsakọ'' |states=[[Nigeria]] |region=[[Edo State]] |ethnicity=[[Afemai people|Afenmai]] |speakers={{sigfig|511,000|2}} |date=2020 |ref=e25 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=[[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] |fam3=[[Volta–Niger languages|Volta–Niger]] |fam4={{sm|yeai}} |fam5=[[Edoid languages|Edoid]] |fam6=North-Central |fam7=Yekhee–Ghotuo |iso3=ets |glotto=yekh1238 |glottorefname=Yekhee }}
'''Afenmai''' (Afemai), '''Yekhee''', or '''Iyekhe''', is an [[Edoid language]] spoken in [[Edo State]], [[Nigeria]] by the [[Afenmai people]]. Not all speakers recognize the name ''Yekhee''; some use the district name ''Etsako''.
Previously the name used by British colonial administration was '''Kukuruku''', supposedly after a battle cry "ku-ku-ruku",<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/geographicalregi0000udor | url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/geographicalregi0000udor/page/109 109] | title=Geographical Regions of Nigeria| publisher=University of California Press | last1=Udo| first1=Reuben K.| year=1970}}</ref> now considered derogatory.<ref name=e25/>
Afenmai is unusual in reportedly having a [[voiceless alveolar tapped fricative|voiceless tapped fricative]] as the "tense" equivalent of the "lax" voiced tap {{IPA|/ɾ/}} (compare {{IPA|[aɾ̞̊u]}} 'hat' and {{IPA|[aɾu]}} 'louse'),<ref>Laver (1994) ''Principles of Phonetics'', p. 263.</ref> though in other descriptions it is described simply as a fricative and analyzed as the "lax" equivalent of the "tense" voiceless stop {{IPA|/t/}}.<ref name=WPP/>
==Phonology== Vowels are {{IPA|/i e ɛ a ɔ o u/}}. Long vowels and the large number of diphthong in the language are derived from sequences of short vowels, often from the optional elision of {{IPA|/l/}}.
Afenmai has a complex system of morphotonemic alterations based on two phonemic tones, high and low. At the surface level there are five distinctive tones: high, low, falling, rising and mid. Mid tone is the result of [[downstep]] of a high tone after a low tone. The contour tones (falling and rising) either occur on long vowels or diphthongs, from a sequence of high+low or low+high, or on short vowels produced from the contraction of such a long vowel or diphthong. Rising tones are rather uncommon, as they tend to be replaced by high, low or mid.<ref name=WPP/>
{| class="wikitable IPA" style="text-align:center" |+Consonant phonemes of the Ekpheli dialect<ref name="WPP" /> |- !colspan=2| ![[Labial consonant|Labial]] || [[Dental consonant|Dental]] || [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] || [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] || [[Velar consonant|Velar]] || [[Labial–velar consonant|Labiovelar]] |- !colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] | {{IPAlink|m}}, {{IPA|mː}} || || {{IPAlink|n}} || || || |- !rowspan=2|[[Plosive]] !{{small|voiced}} | {{IPAlink|b}} || || {{IPAlink|d}} || || {{IPAlink|ɡː}} || {{IPAlink|ɡ͡b}}, {{IPA|ɡ͡bː}} |- !{{small|voiceless}} | {{IPAlink|p}} || || {{IPAlink|t|t(ː)}} || || {{IPAlink|kː}} || {{IPAlink|k͡p}}, {{IPA|k͡pː}} |- !rowspan=2|[[Affricate]] !{{small|voiced}} | || || {{IPAlink|dz}} || || || |- !{{small|voiceless}} | || || {{IPAlink|ts}} || || || |- !rowspan=2|[[Fricative]] !{{small|voiced}} | {{IPAlink|v|v(ː)}} || || || || {{IPAlink|ɣ}} || |- !{{small|voiceless}} | {{IPAlink|f}} || {{IPAlink|θ}} || {{IPAlink|s}} || || {{IPAlink|x}} || |- !colspan=2|[[Approximant]] | {{IPAlink|ʋ}} || || {{IPAlink|l}} || {{IPAlink|j}} || || {{IPAlink|w}} |- !colspan=2|[[Tap and flap consonants|Tap]] | || || {{IPAlink|ɾ}} || || || |}
The consonants marked as [[gemination|geminated]] have been analyzed in various ways, including 'tense' or 'fortis' and paired up with 'lax' or 'lenis' partners, though there is no phonological basis for grouping the supposed 'long' consonants together, or for partnering them with particular 'short' consonants. The clear cases are {{IPA|/k͡pː ɡ͡bː mː/}}, which are twice as long as {{IPA|/k͡p ɡ͡b m/}} but otherwise identical in a spectrogram. {{IPA|/kː ɡː/}} are likewise twice as long as {{IPA|/x ɣ/}}. However, alveolar {{IPA|/t/}} is only slightly longer than dental {{IPA|/θ/}}, and while {{IPA|/v/}} is longer than {{IPA|/ʋ/}}, that's to be expected for a fricative compared to an approximant.<ref name="WPP">{{cite journal |last=Elimelech |year=1976 |title=A Tonal Grammar of Etsako |journal=UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics |number=35 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7qd5v492}}</ref>
The alveolar consonants have [[postalveolar consonant|postalveolar]] allophones before {{IPA|/i/}} plus another vowel, where {{IPA|/i/}} would otherwise become {{IPA|[j]}}, as in {{IPA|/siɛsiɛ/ > [ʃɛʃɛ]}} 'to be small'.<ref name="WPP" /> In addition, {{IPA|/ts/}} optionally becomes {{IPA|[tʃ]}} before a single {{IPA|/i/}}, as in {{IPA|/itsi/}} 'pig' ({{IPA|[itsi] ~ [itʃi]}}). The other alveolar consonants do not have this variation, unless the triggering environment is provided within a prosodic word: {{IPA|/odzi/}} 'crab' ({{IPA|[odzi]}} in citation form) > {{IPA|/odzi oɣie/}} 'the king's crab' ({{IPA|[odʒoɣje]}}). The sounds transcribed with {{angbr IPA|ʃ ʒ ɲ}} may actually be closer to {{IPA|[ɕ ʑ nʲ]}}.{{cn|date=December 2025}}
Apart from {{IPA|/p ts dz θ/}}, these consonants appear in all dialects of Afenmai investigated by Elimelech (1976). {{IPA|/p/}} is absent from Uzairue dialect, being replaced by {{IPA|/f/}}, and is quite rare in most other dialects. {{IPA|/ts dz/}} are fricativized to {{IPA|/s z/}} in Aviele and South Uneme dialects. {{IPA|/θ/}} is retracted to {{IPA|/ɹ̝̊/}} in most other dialects, as in {{IPA|[aθu ~ aɹ̝̊u]}} 'hat'.<ref name=WPP/>
==Orthography== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Afenmai Alphabet (Alfabẹti Etsakọ)<ref>[https://bishweesh.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/improved-afemai-orthography/ Improved Afẹmai Orthography (alfabẹti etsakọ)] (2018, WordPress)</ref><ref>[https://edoafemai.wordpress.com/2018/12/01/etsako-orthography/ Etsakọ Orthography] (2018, WordPress)</ref><ref>{{citation |title=A Contrastive Study of Afemai and English Morphological Structures with Learning and Teaching Implications |last=Adelegan |first=Zibril |year=2018 |url=https://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/handle/123456789/11772}}</ref>{{bcn|date=January 2026}} |A||B||C||CH||D||E||Ẹ||F||G||GB||GH||GW||I||J||K||KH||KP||KPH||KW||L |- |M||MH||N||NW||NY||O||Ọ||P||R||S||SH||T||TH||TS||U||V||VH||W||Y||Z |}
==Phrases== Etsako phrases include: {| class="wikitable" ! Etsako !! English |- | Moo! || Well done |- | Abee!/See! || Hello (How is it?) |- | O somi/O chi || It is good. (Response) |- | Na ẹgbia || Good morning |- | Na ẹlẹ || (Response) |- | Agbelọ || Good morning |- | Agbe || (Response) |- | U vhẹẹ ze? || Hope you are fine. |- | Eli || Yes |- | U lẹ guẹ? || Did you sleep well? |- | A kpẹmi || We give thanks |- | Moo ota / Oviẹna / Togi || Good afternoon |- | Moo ogode / Obugala || Good evening |- | O ki akọ / O kila akhuẹ || Good night (until tomorrow) |- | O ki la || Goodbye |- | O ki idegbe || Until later |- | Lẹ khia / Guẹ khia || Go well. |- | R'ẹlo ku egbe || Take care. |}
Common Etsako phrases showing dialectical variations between Iyekhe and Agbelo: {| class="wikitable" ! English !! Iyekhe !! Agbelo |- | I am coming || I bade || Mi aa balẹ |- | Where are you? || Obo u ya? || Obo u la? |- | Where are you going to? || Obo u ye? || Obo u aa ye? |- | What do you want? || Eme u kele? || Elọ u aa nono? |- | This is my brother || Iyọkpa mẹ ki ọna || Inyọguo mẹ kh' ọna |- | I am hungry || Osami ọ gbe mẹ || Okiami o aa gbe mẹ |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://etsakolanguage.com/ Etsako Language Research And Development Centre (ELRDC)] {{Volta-Niger languages}}
{{Languages of Nigeria}} {{authority control}}
[[Category:Edoid languages]] [[Category:Languages of Nigeria]]