Grebo language

Grebo
Native to Liberia
Native speakers
 390,000  (2001)[1]
possibly a few Southern Grebo in Ivory Coast, plus refugees
Language codes
ISO 639-2 grb
ISO 639-3 grb – inclusive code
Individual codes:
grj – Southern (incl. Jabo)
grv – Central
gbo – Northern
gec – Gboloo
gry – Barclayville
Glottolog greb1256[2]

Grebo is a Kru language of Liberia. All of the Grebo languages commonly go by the term Grebo, though in Ivory Coast Krumen is usual. Grebo country is in the extreme south-west of Liberia on the coast and inland, between the rivers Cavally and Cess.[3]

As in other Kru languages, tone is extremely important. For instance, né with a high (or high-mid) tone is the first-person pronoun "I", while nè with a low tone is "you" singular.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Barclayville Grebo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Grebo-Liberian". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ Gordon Innes, A Grebo - English Dictionary, Cambridge University Press, 1967
  4. ↑ Gordon Innes, as above. The dictionary was compiled from previous dictionaries and the speech of Assistant 1955-1957 at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, Mr. J.Y.Dennis

External links