lingvo.wikisort.org - Language

Temne (also Themne, Timne; IPA: [t̪emnɛ]^{[missing the tones]}) is a language of the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family, spoken in Sierra Leone by about 2.5 million first-language speakers. One of the country's most widely spoken languages, it is spoken by 36% of the country’s population.^{[citation needed]} It also serves as a lingua franca for an additional 1,800,000 people living in areas near the Temne people. It is closely related to the neighboring Landouma language.

Temne
KʌThemnɛ
Native to	Sierra Leone, Guinea
Region	Northern Sierra Leone
Ethnicity	Temne
Native speakers	2.5 million (2006)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Mel Temne–Baga Temne
Official status
Official language in	Sierra Leone
Language codes
ISO 639-2	tem
ISO 639-3	tem
Glottolog	timn1235

Temne[2]
Person	a-temne
Language	ka-temne

It is related to the Baga languages spoken in Guinea and to Bullom languages spoken in Sierra Leone. Themne speakers live mostly in the Northern Province and Western Area (Freetown and its environs) 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]

Consonants

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

Vowels

	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

kp

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

Kp

L

M

N

Ŋ

O

Ɔ

P

R

S

T

Th

U

W

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 [Unpublished thesis. New York: City University of New York]. Ann Arbor: UMI.

External links

• Temne Words and Phrases
• Grammar of the Temne language, 1864 - Rev. C. F. Schlenker
• CIA Sierra Leone file
• PanAfrican L10n page on Temne
• Listening example: Kassirie Stories
• Temne page on JoshuaProject.net
• Resources in the Temne language
• OLAC resources in and about the Timne language
• Temne story "Mr. Spider and the Rotten Skin" with English rough translation
• Glottolog page for Timne
• Peace Corps Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual
• Lets Learn Thaymneh (Temne)

На других языках

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[de] Temne (Sprache)

Die Temne (auch Themne oder Timne) ist die Sprache der Temne und ist eine Atlantik-Kongo-Sprache[1], die in Sierra Leone von über 1,85 Millionen Muttersprachlern (Stand 2015), das heißt etwa 26,5 Prozent der Bevölkerung, gesprochen wird.[2]

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- [en] Temne language

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[es] Idioma temné

El idioma temné (llamado también como temne, timne o themne) es un idioma de la familia de lenguas atlánticas, hablada en Sierra Leona por alrededor de un millón de hablantes, aproximadamente el 30% de la población. Sirve como lingua franca para otros 250.000 hablantes. El temné es uno de los cuatro idiomas oficiales de Sierra Leona. Está emparentada con las lenguas baga habladas en Guinea.

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[fr] Temné

Le temné ou timné (autre transcriptions : temen, themne, timene, timmannee[1]) est une langue appartenant à la branche atlantique de la famille des langues nigéro-congolaises. Elle est parlée dans la province du Nord en Sierra Leone par près d’un million et demi de personnes comme langue maternelle, et par moins d’un million comme langue véhiculaire. C’est la langue du peuple temné.

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[ru] Темне (язык)

Темне — язык народа темне, проживающего в Сьерра-Леоне. Относится к атлантической семье языков нигеро-конголезской макросемьи. Число носителей — около 1,2 миллионов человек, что делает темне одним из самых распространённых языков страны (около 30 % всего населения). Носители проживают в основном в центральных и западных районах Сьерра-Леоне, кроме того, темне — это лингва-франка для народов, проживающих в смежных регионах.

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