Tem language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 79.12.134.153 (talk) at 10:00, 9 November 2022. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tem
Kotokoli
RegionTogo, Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso
EthnicityTem people
Native speakers
290,000 in Togo and Benin (2001–2012)[1]
ca. 50,000 in Ghana (1987–1993)[2]
Latin (Tem alphabet)
Tem Braille
Arabic (former)
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3kdh
Glottologtemm1241

Tem, or Kotokoli (Cotocoli), is a Gur language spoken in Togo, Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. It is used by neighboring peoples. In Ghana the Kotokoli people comes from a northern part of the Volta Region a town called Koue. Koue shares boarder with Togo with a small river which is called the Koue river separating it from Togo.

Writing System

Alphabet
Uppercase A B C D Ɖ E Ɛ F G Gb H I Ɩ J K Kp L M N Ny Ŋ Ŋm O Ɔ P R S T U Ʊ V W Y Z
Lowercase a b c d ɖ e ɛ f g gb h i ɩ j k kp l m n ny ŋ ŋm o ɔ p r s t u ʊ v w y z

High tone is indicated by an acute accent: á é ɛ́ í ɩ́ ó ɔ́ ú ʊ́, no accent indicates low tone. Long vowels are indicated by doubling the letter: aa ee ɛɛ ii ɩɩ oo ɔɔ uu ʊʊ, both are accented if the tone is high: (áá etc.), only the first is accented if the tone is descending (áa), only the second is accented if the tone is ascending (aá).

References

  1. ^ Tem at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Tem at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).