The Mel languages are a branch of
Niger–Congo languages spoken in
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
,
Guinea,
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
, and
Liberia. The most populous is
Temne, with about two million speakers;
Kissi is next, with half a million.
Languages
Mel has traditionally been classified as the bulk of a southern branch of a
West Atlantic
West Atlantic is a holding company for two European cargo airlines, West Air Sweden and West Atlantic UK, with its head office in Malmö, Sweden. West Atlantic employ some 650 staff and operate a fleet of 22 aircraft. The airline specializes ...
branch of Niger–Congo. However, these are geographic and typological rather than genealogical groups; Segerer (2010) shows that there is no exclusive relationship between Mel and the other southern languages,
Sua (Mansoanka) and
Gola.
Fields (2004) splits Mel into a ''Highlands'' group originating in Guinea, and also a ''Bullom-Kisi-Gola'' group.
[Fields, Edda L]
Before "Baga": Settlement Chronologies of the Coastal Rio Nunez Region, Earliest Times to c.1000 CE
In: ''The International Journal of African Historical Studies'', Vol. 37, No. 2 (2004), pp. 229-253. Boston University African Studies Center.
*Mel
**Bullom-Kisi-Gola
***
Gola
***Bullom-Kisi
****
Bullom
****
Kisi
**Highlands
***
Temne
***
Landuma
***
Sitem
Fields (2008:83) proposes that the homeland of Proto-Mel is located in the north-central highlands of
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
just to the south of the Lesser
Scarcies River
The Little Scarcies River is a river in west Africa that begins in Guinea and flows into Sierra Leone, after which it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It is surrounded by extensive marshlands. The river is also known as the Kaba River.
The Great ...
, rather than on the coast. The homeland of Proto-Highlands is located along the middle stretches of the
Konkoure River in Guinea, just to the northeast of
Conakry (Fields 2008:85).
[Fields-Black, Edda L. 2008. ''Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora''. (Blacks in the Diaspora.) Bloomington: Indiana University Press.]
Comparative vocabulary
Comparison of basic vocabulary words in the Mel languages from Fields (2004):
Comparison of basic vocabulary words in the Mel languages, and also
Sua and
Gola, from Wilson (2007):
[Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. ''Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification''. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.] Limba has also been added from Clarke (1922).
[Clarke, Mary Lane. 1922 ]971
Year 971 ( CMLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Battle of Dorostolon: A Byzantine expeditionary army (possibly 30–40,000 men ...
''A Limba-English Dictionary or Tampeṅ Ta Ka Taluṅ Ta Ka Hulimba Ha In Huiṅkilisi Ha''. Westmead, Farnborough: Gregg International Publishers Limited. (1971 reprint of 1922 book published by Houghton.)
See also
*
Rio Nunez languages
The Rio Nunez (Rio Nuñez) or Nunez River languages constitute a pair of Niger–Congo languages, Mbulungish and Baga Mboteni. They are spoken at the mouth of the Nunez River in Guinea, West Africa.
The Rio Nunez languages have been studied by ...
References
{{Niger-Congo branches
Atlantic languages