GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT Sounds are combined in different ways in languages of the world to form different pronounceable units known as the syllable. While some of these pronounceable units are simple and clear, others are complex and ambiguous. Using a descriptive approach, the paper analyzes the syllable structure of Ikwere, an Igboid language of the West Benue-Congo family of the Niger-Congo phylum. Previous studies observe that Ikwere operates an open vowel system like most African languages particularly the Igboid related group, but the present work observes evidence of the CVC structure in the language and notes that it could be interpreted either as a CVN or CVC. It specifically states that the structures V, N, CV and CGV are the syllable types attested in Ikwere. Thus the paper observes that the language has both univalent (clear) and ambivalent (ambiguous) syllable structures and further provides interpretations to the actual phonemic status of the various ambiguous structures. It is expected that this paper will be relevant in stating generalizations about the distribution of allophonic features in the language. KEYWORDS: Syllable structure, univalent syllable, ambivalent syllable, syllabic nasal, vowel sequences