Guere language

Guéré (Gere), also called Wè (Wee), is a Kru language spoken by over 300,000 people in the Dix-Huit Montagnes and Moyen-Cavally regions of Ivory Coast.

The phonology of Guere (here the Zagna dialect of Central Guere / Southern Wè) is briefly sketched out below.

The consonant phonemes are as follows:

Allophones of some of these phonemes include:

• [k͡m] is an allophone of /k͡p/ before nasal vowels
• [ŋ͡m] is an allophone of /ɡ͡b/ before nasal vowels
• [ŋʷ] is an allophone of /w/ before nasal vowels
• [ɗ] is an allophone of /l/ in word-initial position
• [r] is an allophone of /l/ after a coronal consonant (alveolar or palatal)

In addition, while the nasal consonants /m, n/ and contrast with /ɓ/ and /l/ before oral vowels, and are thus separate phonemes, before nasal vowels only the nasal consonants occur. /ɓ/ and /l/ do not occur before nasal vowels, suggesting that historically a phonemic merger between these sounds and the nasals /m, n/ may have occurred in this position.

Like many West African languages, Guere makes use of a contrast between vowels with advanced tongue root and those with retracted tongue root. In addition, nasal vowels contrast phonemically with oral vowels.

Guere is a tonal language and contrasts ten tones:

• Wobe a.k.a. Northern Wè