Temne (also ''Themne, Timne''; ) is a language of the

Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Temne speakers live mostly in the Northern Province and Western Area, Sierra Leone. Temne people can be found in a number of other West African countries as well, including

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

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 Alveolus (; pl. alveoli, adj. alveolar) is a general anatomical term for a concave cavity or pit. Uses in anatomy and zoology * Pulmonary alveolus, an air sac in the lungs ** Alveolar cell or pneumocyte ** Alveolar duct ** Alveolar macrophage * ...

, but, unusually, the dental consonants are apical and the alveolar consonants are laminal (and slightly

affricated An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pair. ...

), 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