Temne (also Themne, Timne; IPA [t̪emnɛ][missing the tones]) is a language of the Mel 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. Some Temnes have also migrated beyond West Africa seeking educational and professional opportunities, especially in Great Britain, and the United States.
| Temne | |
|---|---|
| KʌThemnɛ | |
| Native to | Sierra Leone, Guinea |
| Region | Northern Sierra Leone |
| Ethnicity | Temne |
| Speakers | L1: 2.0 million (2021)[1] L2: 240,000 (1981)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | tem |
| ISO 639-3 | tem |
| Glottolog | timn1235 |
| Temne[2] | |
|---|---|
| Person | a-temne |
| Language | ka-temne |
Phonology
editTemne is a tonal language. 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
edit| 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
edit
| Front | Mid | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | ə | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ |
| Open | a |
Tones
editTemne has two tones: high and low.[5]
Writing
editThe 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,[when?] Ȧȧ was used instead of Ʌʌ.[citation needed]
Oral literature
editIn 1861, C. F. Schlenker, a missionary of the Church Missionary Society, published a collection of Temne fables and proverbs in Temne with a facing-text English translation.[6] Schlenker's source was a Temne man living in Port Loko in the late 1840s; Schlenker explains that he was an old man already at that time. The book also contains some of Schlenker's translations from the Bible into Temne.[citation needed]
In 1916 Northcote Thomas published his Anthropological Report on Sierra Leone; Part 2 contains a Temne-English dictionary[7] and Part 3 contains a grammar of Temne plus 27 stories told in Temne with interlinear English translation.[8] Many of the stories are about the trickster spider, called panis in Temne; the trickster spider is a popular character in the Temne, Vai, Mende, and Limba storytelling traditions of Sierra Leone.[9] In addition, Thomas's Specimens of Languages from Sierra Leone[10] contains tables comparing Temne vocabulary to Kissi and other related languages.
References
edit- ^ a b Temne at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ Wilson, William André Auquier (2007). Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. Schriften zur Afrikanistik. Vol. 12. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
- ^ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 23, 42. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
- ^ a b Sierra Leone Temne Language Manual (PDF). Peace Corps. 1987.
- ^ a b c d Kanu, Sullay M.; Tucker, Benjamin V. (2010). "Temne". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 40 (2): 249. doi:10.1017/S002510031000006X.
- ^ Schlenker, Christian Friedrich (1861). A Collection of Temne Traditions, Fables and Proverbs.
- ^ Thomas, Northcote (1916). Anthropological Report on Sierra Leone, part 2: Timne-English Dictionary.
- ^ Thomas, Northcote (1916). Anthropological Report on Sierra Leone, part 3: Timne Grammar and Stories.
- ^ Kilson, Marion (1984). "Spider and Royal Antelope in Sierra Leone". Anthropos. 79: 240–243.
- ^ Thomas, Northcote (1916). Specimens of languages from Sierra Leone.
Bibliography
edit- Bai-Sharka, Abou (1986). Temne names and proverbs. Stories and songs from Sierra Leone. Vol. 19. Freetown: People's Educational Association of Sierra Leone. LCCN 91107781. OCLC 18356374. OL 1583057M.
- Kamarah, Sheikh Umarr (2007). A descriptive grammar of KʌThemnɛ (Temne). Munich: Lincom Europa.
- Turay, Abdul Karim (1989). Temne stories. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. ISBN 9783927620766.
- Wilson, W.A.A. (1961). An outline of the Temne language. London: SOAS, University of London. OCLC 1848657.
- Yillah, M. Sorie (1992). Temne phonology and morphology (Thesis). New York: City University of New York.
External links
edit- 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
- 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)