Mende language

Mende
Mende
Mɛnde yia / 𞠗𞢱 𞡓𞠣‎ /
Native to	Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea
Region	South central Sierra Leone
Ethnicity	Mende people
Native speakers	2.5 million (2020–2021)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Mande Western Southwestern Mende–Loma Mende–Bandi Mende–Loko Mende; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Ko; Kpa; Sewawa; Wanjama;
Writing system	Latin; Mende Kikakui script
Language codes
ISO 639-2	men
ISO 639-3	men
Glottolog	mend1266
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Mende /ˈmɛndi/^[2] (Mɛnde yia) is a major language of Sierra Leone, with some speakers in neighboring Liberia and Guinea. It is spoken by the Mende people and by other ethnic groups as a regional lingua franca in southern Sierra Leone.^[3]

Mende is a tonal language belonging to the Mande language family. Early systematic descriptions of Mende were by F. W. Migeod^[4] and Kenneth Crosby.^[5] Ethel Aginsky decoded the language in her doctoral work.^[6]

Written forms

In 1921, Kisimi Kamara invented a syllabary for Mende he called Kikakui (𞠀𞠁𞠂‎ / ). The script achieved widespread use for a time, but has largely been replaced with an alphabet based on the Latin script, and the Mende script is considered a "failed script".^[7] The Bible was translated into Mende and published in 1959, in Latin script.^[8]

The Latin-based alphabet is: a, b, d, e, ɛ, f, g, gb, h, i, j, k, kp, l, m, n, ny, o, ɔ, p, s, t, u, v, w, y. ^[9]^[10]

Mende has seven vowels: a, e, ɛ, i, o, ɔ, u. ^[11]^[12]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labiovelar	Glottal
Plosive	plain	p	t		k	k͡p
	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡ͡b
	prenasalized	m͡b	n͡d		ŋ͡ɡ	ŋɡ͡b
Fricative	plain	f	s				h
Fricative	voiced	v
Affricate	voiced			d͡ʒ
Affricate	prenasalized			ɲd͡ʒ
Lateral			l
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant		w		j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

^[13]

In films

Mende was used extensively in the films Amistad and Blood Diamond and was the subject of the documentary film The Language You Cry In.

Sample text

Numuvuisia Kpɛlɛɛ ta ti le tɛ yɛ nduwɔ ya hu, tao ti nuvuu yei kɛɛ ti lɔnyi maa hɛwungɔ. Kiiya kɛɛ hindaluahu gɔɔla a yɛlɔ ti hun. Fale mahoungɔ ti ti nyɔnyɔhu hoi kia ndeegaa.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

References

^ Mende at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
^ Sengova, Joko (1987). "The national languages of Sierra Leone: A decade of policy experimentation". Africa. 57 (4): 521–522. doi:10.2307/1159897. ISSN 0001-9720.
^ Migeod, F. W. 1908. The Mende language. London
^ Crosby, Kenneth. 1944. An Introduction to the Study of Mende. Cambridge University Press.
^ Murphy, Patricia (1972-09-24). "Meeting of science, society". The Los Angeles Times. p. 70. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
^ Unseth, Peter (2011). "Invention of Scripts in West Africa for Ethnic Revitalization". In Fishman, Joshua A.; García, Ofelia (eds.). The Success–Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 23–32.
^ Tuchscherer, Konrad (1995). "African Script and Scripture: The History of the Kikakui (Mende) Writing System for Bible Translations". African Languages and Cultures. 8 (2): 169–188. ISSN 0954-416X.
^ Coble, Scott. n.d. "Mende." AboutWorldLanguages.com (accessed 8 October 2014)
^ "Langue : mende". Systèmes alphabétiques des langues africaines. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
^ A Mende Orthography Workshop: Ministry of Education, Freetown, January 21-25, 1980
^ Pemagbi, Joe. 1991. "A guide to Mende orthography." SLADEA.
^ Dwyer, David James (1969). Consonant Mutation in Mende (MA). East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University. doi:10.25335/e7tq-gp12.

External links

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[e27-1] Mende at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)

[2] Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh

[3] Sengova, Joko (1987). "The national languages of Sierra Leone: A decade of policy experimentation". Africa. 57 (4): 521–522. doi:10.2307/1159897. ISSN 0001-9720.

[4] Migeod, F. W. 1908. The Mende language. London

[5] Crosby, Kenneth. 1944. An Introduction to the Study of Mende. Cambridge University Press.

[:3-6] Murphy, Patricia (1972-09-24). "Meeting of science, society". The Los Angeles Times. p. 70. Retrieved 2024-04-20.

[7] Unseth, Peter (2011). "Invention of Scripts in West Africa for Ethnic Revitalization". In Fishman, Joshua A.; García, Ofelia (eds.). The Success–Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 23–32.

[8] Tuchscherer, Konrad (1995). "African Script and Scripture: The History of the Kikakui (Mende) Writing System for Bible Translations". African Languages and Cultures. 8 (2): 169–188. ISSN 0954-416X.

[9] Coble, Scott. n.d. "Mende." AboutWorldLanguages.com (accessed 8 October 2014)

[10] "Langue : mende". Systèmes alphabétiques des langues africaines. Retrieved 2019-02-14.

[11] A Mende Orthography Workshop: Ministry of Education, Freetown, January 21-25, 1980

[12] Pemagbi, Joe. 1991. "A guide to Mende orthography." SLADEA.

[13] Dwyer, David James (1969). Consonant Mutation in Mende (MA). East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University. doi:10.25335/e7tq-gp12.

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v t e Languages of Sierra Leone
Official language	English
Indigenous languages	Fula Klao Kissi Kono Kuranko Limba Loko Maninka Mende Pular Sherbro Sua Susu Temne Yalunka
Creole languages	Krio

Authority control databases
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