A PHONOLOGY OF E¿TU¿LO¿

This work is focused on the phonology of the Etulo language which belongs to the Idomoid group of the West Benue Congo family of languages, and spoken in the Benue and Taraba States of Nigeria. The situation of the language is such that it has been classified as endangered language based on the parameters for measuring endangered languages as stated by UNESCO Ad Hoc Group on Endangered Languages (2003). Attempt has therefore been made in this work to examine the phonology of Etulo which can serve as bedrock for the establishment of a viable orthography. To achieve this, the phonetic and phonological features of Etulo specifying: the distinctive and non-distinctive sounds, syllable structure, distinctive and non-distinctive tones, phonological processes and phonological rules were established.Some phonological concepts related to the research were reviewed. Structgenautcy, a novel framework for phonological analysis by Yul-Ifode, Okumo and Ezenwafor (2016) which envelopes structuralism, generative and autosegmental phonology was reviewed and applied for analysis. A descriptive survey employing articulatory, auditory and acoustic parameters aided our analysis of data.