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Nzema
Nzema
Region	Ghana, Ivory Coast
Ethnicity	Nzema
Native speakers	430,000 (2013–2021)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Kwa Potou–Tano Tano Central Tano Bia South Bia Nzema; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-2	nzi
ISO 639-3	nzi
Glottolog	nzim1238

Nzema, also known as Nzima or Appolo, is a Central Tano language spoken by the Nzema people of southwestern Ghana and southeastern Ivory Coast.^[2] It is partially intelligible with Jwira-Pepesa and is closely related to Baoulé.^[3]

Although it is a Bia language, Nzema is also one of the many Akan languages, and it has had considerable influence from other Akan languages, especially Twi and Fante.^[4] There are notable towns in Nzemaland such as Bonyere, Nkroful, Half Assini, Axim, Eikwe, Baku, Atuabo, Beyin and Essiama.

Phonology

^[4]		Labial	Labiodental		Dental	Alveolar			(Alveolo-) Palatal		Velar		Labial-velar
^[4]		Labial	plain	lab.	Dental	plain	lab.	pal.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	Labial-velar
Nasal	plain	m			n̪	n			ɲ	ɲʷ	ŋ	ŋʷ	ŋm
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	tp		t̪				dʑ	dʑʷ	k	kʷ	kp
Plosive/ Affricate	voiced	b	db		d̪	d			tɕ	tɕʷ	ɡ	gʷ	ɡb
Fricative	voiceless		f	fʷ		s	sʷ	sʲ	ɕ	ɕʷ	x
Fricative	voiced		v	vʷ		z	zʷ	zʲ			ɣ
Trill						r
Lateral	plain					l
Lateral	nasalized					l̃
Approximant									j			w

^[4]	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Near-close	ɪ		ʊ
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Near-open		ɐ
Open		a

Of Nzema's ten vowels, eight may be nasalized: /ĩ/, /ɪ̃/, /ɛ̃/, /ɐ̃/, /ã/, /ũ/, /ʊ̃/ and /ɔ̃/.^[4]

Nzema alphabet^[5]^{[full citation needed]}
Uppercase	A	B	D	Ɛ	E	F	G	H	I	K	L	M	N	Ɔ	O	P	R	S	T	U	V	W	Y	Z
Lowercase	a	b	d	ɛ	e	f	g	h	i	k	l	m	n	ɔ	o	p	r	s	t	u	v	w	y	z

^ Nzema at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
^ "Nzema". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
^ Burmeister, Jonathan L. (1976). "A comparison of variable nouns in Anyi-Sanvi and Nzema". Annales de l'Université d'Abidjan. H (Linguistique 9): 7–19.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Berry, J. (1955). "Some Notes on the Phonology of the Nzema and Ahanta Dialects". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 17 (1): 160–165. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00106421. ISSN 1474-0699.
^ Language Guide, 1977

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