Kru languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kru
Geographic
distribution:
Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Burkina Faso
Genetic
classification
:
Niger-Congo
 Atlantic-Congo
  Volta-Congo
   Kru
Subdivisions:
Aizi
Eastern Kru
Kuwaa
Siamou
Western Kru

The Kru languages belong to the Niger-Congo language family and are spoken in the area ranging from the south-east of Liberia to the east of Côte d'Ivoire. The name Kru is of unknown origin and is according to Westermann (1952) 'used by Europeans to denote a number of tribes speaking related dialects, and the dialects as a whole'; Marchese (1989) notes that the term might be derived from the fact that many of these peoples were recruited as 'crew' by European seafarers.

The classification of Kru languages is as follows:

  • Aizi
  • Eastern Kru
  • Kuwaa
  • Siamou
  • Western Kru

[edit] References

  • Westerman, Diedrich Hermann (1952) Languages of West Africa (Part II). London/New York/Toronto: Oxford University Press.

[edit] External links