Temne language

Temne
KʌThemnɛ
Native to Sierra Leone
Region Central Sierra Leone
Ethnicity Temne
Native speakers
 1.2 million (2006)[1]
Official status
Official language in
 Sierra Leone
Language codes
ISO 639-2 tem
ISO 639-3 tem
Glottolog timn1235[2]

Temne (also Themne, Timne; IPA: [t̪emnɛ]) is a language of the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family, spoken in Sierra Leone by about 2 million first-language speakers. One of the country's most widely spoken languages, it is spoken by 30% of the country’s population. It also serves as a lingua franca for an additional 1,500,000 people living in areas near the Temne people. It is closely related to the neighboring Kissi language.

It is related to the Baga languages spoken in Guinea and to Sherbro spoken in Sierra Leone. Temne speakers live mostly in the Northern Province and Western Area (Freetown and its environs) of Sierra Leone. Temne speakers can also be found in all 12 districts 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][5]

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t̪ (~θ) t k
voiced b d
Fricative f s h
Affricate gb
Nasal m n ŋ
Trill r
Lateral l
Approximant w j

th can be pronounced as [t̪] or [θ].

Vowels

Temne vowel chart[6]
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 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 L M N Ŋ O Ɔ P R S T Th U W

Earlier, Ȧȧ was used instead of Ʌʌ

References

  1. ↑ Temne at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Timne". 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. 23, 42. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
  4. 1 2 Peace Corps, 1987, Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual.
  5. ↑ "Temne words and phrases". VSLTravel. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  6. ↑ Kanu, Sullay M.; Tucker, Benjamin V. (2010). "Temne". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 40 (2): 249. doi:10.1017/S002510031000006X.

Bibliography

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