Temne language
Temne | |
---|---|
KʌThemnɛ | |
Native to | Sierra Leone, Guinea |
Region | Northern Sierra Leone |
Ethnicity | Temne |
Native speakers | 2.5 million (2006)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Official status | |
Official language in | ![]() |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | tem |
ISO 639-3 | tem |
Glottolog | timn1235 |
Temne[2] | |
---|---|
Person | a-temne |
Language | ka-temne |
Temne (also Themne, Timne; IPA: [t̪emnɛ][missing the tones]) is a language of the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family, spoken in Sierra Leone by about 2.5 million first-language speakers. One of the country's most widely spoken languages, it is spoken by 36% of the country’s population.[citation needed] It also serves as a lingua franca for an additional 1,800,000 people living in areas near the Temne people. It is closely related to the neighboring Landouma language.
It is related to the Baga languages spoken in Guinea and to Bullom languages spoken in Sierra Leone. Themne speakers live mostly in the Northern Province and Western Area (Freetown and its environs) of Sierra Leone. Temne people can be found in a number of other West African countries as well, including Guinea and The Gambia. Some Temnes have also migrated beyond West Africa seeking educational and professional opportunities, especially in Great Britain, the United States, and Egypt.
Phonology[]
Temne is a tonal language, with four tones. Among consonants, Temne distinguishes dental and alveolar, but, unusually, the dental consonants are apical and the alveolar consonants are laminal (and slightly affricated), the opposite of the general pattern, though one found also in the nearby language Limba.[3][4]
Consonants[]
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | voiceless | p | t̪ | t | k | ||
voiced | b | d | gb | ||||
Fricative | f | s | ʃ | h | |||
Affricate | tʃ | ||||||
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||
Trill | r | ||||||
Lateral | l | ||||||
Approximant | w | j |
Vowels[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Temne_vowel_chart.svg/250px-Temne_vowel_chart.svg.png)
Front | Mid | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Close-mid | e | ə | o |
Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ |
Open | a |
Writing[]
The alphabet of Temne includes the following characters and digraphs:[4]
a | ʌ | b | d | e | ɛ | ə | f | gb | h | i | k | kp | l | m | n | ŋ | o | ɔ | p | r | s | t | th | u | w |
A | Ʌ | B | D | E | Ɛ | Ə | F | Gb | H | I | K | Kp | L | M | N | Ŋ | O | Ɔ | P | R | S | T | Th | U | W |
Earlier, Ȧȧ was used instead of Ʌʌ
References[]
- ^ Temne at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ^ Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
- ^ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 23, 42. ISBN 978-0-631-19815-4.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Peace Corps, 1987, Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual.
- ^ Kanu, Sullay M.; Tucker, Benjamin V. (2010). "Temne". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 40 (2): 249. doi:10.1017/S002510031000006X.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
Bibliography[]
- Bai-Sharka, Abou (1986) Temne names and proverbs (Stories and songs from Sierra Leone vol. 19). Freetown: People’s Educational Association of Sierra Leone.
- Kamarah, Sheikh Umarr (2007) A descriptive grammar of KʌThemnɛ (Temne). Munich: Lincom Europa.
- Peace Corps (1987) Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual. Washington, DC: Peace Corps.
- Turay, Abdul Karim (1989) Temne stories. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
- Wilson, W.A.A. (1961) An outline of the Temne language. London: University of London / SOAS.
- Yillah, M. Sorie (1992) Temne phonology and morphology [Unpublished thesis. New York: City University of New York]. Ann Arbor: UMI.
External links[]
- Temne Words and Phrases
- Grammar of the Temne language, 1864 - Rev. C. F. Schlenker
- CIA Sierra Leone file
- PanAfrican L10n page on Temne
- Listening example: Kassirie Stories
- Temne page on JoshuaProject.net
- Resources in the Temne language
- OLAC resources in and about the Timne language
- Temne story "Mr. Spider and the Rotten Skin" with English rough translation
- Glottolog page for Timne
- Peace Corps Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual
- Lets Learn Thaymneh (Temne)
- Mel languages
- Languages of Sierra Leone
- Temne people