Kpelle language

Kpelle
Kpelle
Kpɛlɛwoo
Region	Liberia, Guinea
Ethnicity	Kpelle people
Native speakers	(1.3 million cited 1991–2012)
Language family	Niger-Congo Mande Southwestern Kpelle; ; ;
Writing system	Kpelle syllabary, African reference alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-2	kpe
ISO 639-3	kpe – inclusive code; Individual codes:; gkp – Guinea Kpelle; xpe – Liberia Kpelle; knu – Kono
Glottolog	kpel1252
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

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A Kpelle speaker, recorded in Liberia.

The Kpelle /kəˈpɛlə/^[2] language (endonym: "Kpɛlɛɛ"^[3]) is spoken by the Kpelle people and is part of the Mande family of languages. Guinean Kpelle (known as Guerze in French), spoken by half a million people, concentrated primarily, but not exclusively, in the forest regions of Guinea, whose capital, Nzérékoré, is the third largest city in Guinea and the largest city in the Guinée forestière region of south-eastern Guinea bordering Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. Liberian Kpelle, spoken by half again as many, is currently taught in schools in Liberia.

Sample[]

The Lord's Prayer in Kpelle:^[4]

Kunâŋ gáa ŋele sui,

Tɔɔ ku iláai siɣe a maa waa.

Tɔɔ Ikâloŋ-laai é pá,

Tɔɔ ínîa-mɛni é kέ,

Nɔii ma ɓɛ yɛ̂ɛ berei gáa la Ɣâla-taai.

I kukɔ sâa a kuɣele-kuu tɔnɔ-tɔnɔ mii-sɛŋ;

I ipôlu fe kutɔ̂ŋ-karaa-ŋai dîa,

Yɛ̂ɛ berei kwa kupôlu fè la kuɓarâai ditɔ̂ŋ-karaa-ŋai dîai;

Tɔɔ kutúɛ kufe pili yee-laa-maa su,

Kέlɛ, i kukúla mɛni nyɔ́mɔɔ su.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-Velar
Plosive	plain	p	t		k	k͡p
Plosive	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡ͡b
Implosive		ɓ
Fricative	plain	f	s
Fricative	voiced	v	z		ɣ
Trill			r
Lateral			l
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Approximant				j		w

Vowels[]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

^[5]

References[]

^ Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Guinea Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Liberia Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Kono at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
^ "Kpɛlɛɛ Kɔlɔi 2" [Kpelle reader #2]. 2nd ed. Totota: Kpelle Literacy Center, 1959, 1.
^ Matthew 6:9-13 in the Gbanaŋ-woo-kɛɛ ninai ["Kpelle New Testament"]. Monrovia: Bible Society in Liberia and United Bible Societies, 1992. Online link.
^ Thach, Sharon V.; Dwyer, David J. (1981). Kpelle: A Reference Handbook of Phonetics, Grammar, Lexicon, and Learning Procedures (PDF).

External links[]

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This Guinea-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

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[e18-1] Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Guinea Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Liberia Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Kono at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)

[2] Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh

[3] "Kpɛlɛɛ Kɔlɔi 2" [Kpelle reader #2]. 2nd ed. Totota: Kpelle Literacy Center, 1959, 1.

[4] Matthew 6:9-13 in the Gbanaŋ-woo-kɛɛ ninai ["Kpelle New Testament"]. Monrovia: Bible Society in Liberia and United Bible Societies, 1992. Online link.

[5] Thach, Sharon V.; Dwyer, David J. (1981). Kpelle: A Reference Handbook of Phonetics, Grammar, Lexicon, and Learning Procedures (PDF).

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show v t Languages of Guinea
Official language	French
National languages	Fula Malinké (N'Ko) Susu Kissi Kpelle Toma
Indigenous languages	Badyara Baga Bambara Bassari Dan Dyula Landoma Limba Maninka Mano Pular Sua Wamey Yalunka Zialo
Immigrant languages	English French Punjabi Spanish Arabic Hindi Arabic Chinese Portuguese Japanese Russian

Kpelle
Kpɛlɛwoo
Region	Liberia, Guinea
Ethnicity	Kpelle people
Native speakers	(1.3 million cited 1991–2012)^[1]
Language family	Niger-Congo Mande Southwestern Kpelle
Writing system	Kpelle syllabary, African reference alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-2	`kpe`
ISO 639-3	`kpe` – inclusive code Individual codes: `gkp` – Guinea Kpelle `xpe` – Liberia Kpelle `knu` – Kono
Glottolog	`kpel1252`
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.