Limba language

Limba
Yimba
Native to Sierra Leone, Guinea
Native speakers
(340,000 cited 1989)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
lia  West–Central
lma  East
Glottolog limb1267[2]

The Limba language, Hulimba, is an erstwhile Atlantic language of Sierra Leone. It is not closely related to other languages and appears to form its own branch of the Niger–Congo family. Dialects include Tonko, Sela, Kamuke (or Ke), Wara-wara, Keleng, Biriwa, and Safroko. The eastern variety, spoken primarily in Guinea, is quite distinct. Limba has a system of noun classes, marked by an old, eroded set of prefixes augmented by a newer set of enclitics.

Sounds

Like neighboring Temne, Limba has an unusual contrast among its consonants. It distinguishes dental and alveolar, but the dental consonants are apical and the alveolar consonants are laminal, the opposite of the general pattern.[3]

Grammar

Noun classes

Noun classes are distinguished by the form of the definite article (class particle) which follows the noun, and sometimes also by a prefix. Roughly, the following classes can be deduced from the examples given by Mary Lane Clarke:[4]

A. Person Class

Definite article (follows the noun): wo; pronoun ("he, she, it" as subject): wunde, wun

B. People Class

Def. art.: be; pronoun: bende, ben

C. Language Class

Def. art.: ha; pronoun: -?- (presumably this is neuter according to class, and so on through the neuter classes)

D. Country Class

Def. art.: ka

E. Bodkins Class

Def. art.: ta

F. Cascade Class

Def. art.: ko

G. Dogs Class, plurals of F.

Def. art.: ňa

H. Arrival Class

Def. art.: ma

I. Needles Class, plurals of H.

Def. art.: ma

J. Yam Class

Def. art.: ki

K. Bracelets Class, plurals of J.

Def. art.: ki

L. Meat Class

Def. art.: ba

M. Boxes Class, plurals of L.

Def. art.: ba

N. Yarn Class

Def. art.: mu

O. Waves Class

Def. art.: mu

P. Kusini-fruits Class

Def. art.: bu

Q. A class with definite article wu

Other nouns, including nouns of quantity, etc., take no article. It may be that they are classless:

References

  1. West–Central at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    East at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Limba". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 42. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
  4. A Limba - English Dictionary, as above.
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