Temne (also ''Themne, Timne''; ) is a language of the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Temne speakers live mostly in the Northern Province and

Western Area The Western Area or Freetown Peninsula (formerly the Colony of Sierra Leone) is one of five principal divisions of Sierra Leone. It comprises the oldest city and national capital Freetown and its surrounding towns and countryside. It covers an a ...

, 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 Apical means "pertaining to an apex". It may refer to: *Apical ancestor, refers to the last common ancestor of an entire group, such as a species (biology) or a clan (anthropology) *Apical (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features loc ...

and the alveolar consonants are laminal (and slightly affricated), the opposite of the general pattern, though one found also in the nearby language Limba.

Consonants

Vowels

Writing

The alphabet of Temne includes the following characters and digraphs:Peace Corps, 1987, ''Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual.''
/ref> Earlier, Ȧȧ was used instead of Ʌʌ

References

Bibliography

*Bai-Sharka, Abou (1986)
Temne names and proverbs
' (Stories and songs from Sierra Leone vol. 19). Freetown: People’s Educational Association of Sierra Leone. *Kamarah, Sheikh Umarr (2007) ''A descriptive grammar of KʌThemnɛ (Temne)''. Munich: Lincom Europa. *Peace Corps (1987)
''Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual''
Washington, DC: Peace Corps. *Turay, Abdul Karim (1989) ''Temne stories''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. *Wilson, W.A.A. (1961) ''An outline of the Temne language''. London: University of London / SOAS. *Yillah, M. Sorie (1992) ''Temne phonology and morphology'' npublished thesis. New York: City University of New York Ann Arbor: UMI.

External links

Temne Words and PhrasesGrammar of the Temne language, 1864 - Rev. C. F. SchlenkerCIA Sierra Leone filePanAfrican L10n page on TemneListening example: Kassirie StoriesTemne page on JoshuaProject.netResources in the Temne languageOLAC resources in and about the Timne languageTemne story "Mr. Spider and the Rotten Skin" with English rough translationGlottolog page for TimnePeace Corps Sierra Leone Temne Language ManualLets Learn Thaymneh (Temne)
{{Authority control Mel languages Languages of Sierra Leone