eighties in the form of articles on specific phonological developments in various branches of Gbe. In his 1988 work Renaissance du Gbe, the internal classification of Gbe was published in full for the first time (part of the introduction in his 1991 A Comparative Phonology of Gbe is an English translation of this). In this classification, Phla–Pherá is considered one of the five branches of Gbe, the others being Ewe, Gen, Fon, and Ajá. According to Capo (1988:15), the Phla–Pherá group consists of the following lects: Alada (Allada, Arda) – southwest Nigeria, southeast of Porto-Novo. Tɔli (Tori) – Atlantique and Weme Province, west of the Alada area. Tɔfin (Toffi, Tofin) – Weme province, Benin, north of Nokoué Lake. Phelá (Fida, Péda, Xwela, Phera) – east of Lake Ahémé in the Atlantique province of Benin. Phla (Pla, Xwla, Hwla, Popo) – in the coastal borderland of Togo and Benin, between Anexo and Grand Popo. Ayizɔ (Ayizo, Ayize) – Atlantique province, Benin. Kotafon (Kotafohn) – Mono Province, Benin. Gbési (Gbesi) – Mono province, north of Ahéme Lake, Benin. Tsáphɛ (Sahwe, Saxwe) – northern Mono province, Benin. Sɛ (Se) – west Mono province, Benin. Ayizɔ, Gbesi (gbesiin) and Kotafɔn (kógbè) are the same basic language. Capo grouped the Phla–Pherá lects mainly on the basis of a number of shared phonological and morphological features, including the development of proto-Gbe and into and , the retained distinction between and , and the occurrence of various nominal prefixes. Capo noted that ‘the name Phla–Pherá is not used by speakers of the various lects which it comprises’ and that ‘in fact, the Phla–Pherá section is less unified than the others’. However, according to Capo, their speakers ‘recognise a closer link between the lects listed here than between any of those listed in other [branches]’. He marked the Alada variety as an exception, as some people 'consider Alada and the Fon language Gun to be one and the same language'. Subsequent research In the early nineties, the Summer Institute of Linguistics initiated a study to assess which Gbe communities could benefit from existing literacy efforts and whether additional development programs in some of the remaining communities would be needed. Linguistic research carried out in the course of this study was to shed more light on the relations between the various varieties of Gbe. Some of the results of this study were presented in Kluge (2000, 2005, 2006). Based