Kpelle language

Kpelle
Kpɛlɛwoo
Region	Liberia, Guinea
Native speakers	(1.3 million cited 1991–2012)
Language family	Niger–Congo ? Mande Western Mande Southwestern Kpelle
Writing system	Kpelle syllabary, African reference alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-2	kpe
ISO 639-3	kpe – inclusive code Individual codes: gkp – Guinea Kpelle xpe – Liberia Kpelle knu – Kono
Glottolog	kpel1252

The Kpelle /kəˈpɛlə/ language (endonym: "Kpɛlɛɛ") is spoken by the Kpelle people and is part of the Mande family of languages. Guinean Kpelle (known as Guerze in French), spoken by half a million people, concentrated primarily, but not exclusively, in the forest regions of Guinea, whose capital, Nzérékoré, is the third largest city in Guinea and the largest city in the Guinée forestière region of south-eastern Guinea bordering Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. Liberian Kpelle, spoken by half again as many, is currently taught in schools in Liberia.

Sample

The Lord's Prayer in Kpelle:

Kunâŋ gáa ŋele sui,

Tɔɔ ku iláai siɣe a maa waa.

Tɔɔ Ikâloŋ-laai é pá,

Tɔɔ ínîa-mɛni é kέ,

Nɔii ma ɓɛ yɛ̂ɛ berei gáa la Ɣâla-taai.

I kukɔ sâa a kuɣele-kuu tɔnɔ-tɔnɔ mii-sɛŋ;

I ipôlu fe kutɔ̂ŋ-karaa-ŋai dîa,

Yɛ̂ɛ berei kwa kupôlu fè la kuɓarâai ditɔ̂ŋ-karaa-ŋai dîai;

Tɔɔ kutúɛ kufe pili yee-laa-maa su,

Kέlɛ, i kukúla mɛni nyɔ́mɔɔ su.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial-Velar
Plosive	plain	p	t		k	k͡p
	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡ͡b
Implosive		ɓ
Fricative	plain	f	s
	voiced	v	z		ɣ
Trill			r
Lateral			l
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Approximant				j		w

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

External links

• PanAfriL10n page on Kpelle/Guerzé
• Omniglot: Kpelle syllabary