Mel languages
The Mel languages are a branch of Niger–Congo languages spoken in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The most populous is Temne, with about two million speakers; Kissi is next, with half a million.
| Mel | |
|---|---|
| Southern (West) Atlantic [reduced] | |
| Geographic distribution | Guinea-Bissau through Liberia |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Glottolog | mela1257 |
Languages
Mel has traditionally been classified as the bulk of a southern branch of a West Atlantic branch of Niger–Congo. However, these are geographic and typological rather than genealogical groups; Segerer (2010) shows that there is no exclusive relationship between Mel and the other southern languages, Sua (Mansoanka), Gola and Limba.[1]
| Mel |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Fields (2004) splits Mel into a Highlands group originating in Guinea, and also a Bullom-Kisi-Gola group.[2]
Fields (2008:83) proposes that the homeland of Proto-Mel is located in the north-central highlands of Sierra Leone just to the south of the Lesser Scarcies River, rather than on the coast. The homeland of Proto-Highlands is located along the middle stretches of the Konkoure River in Guinea, just to the northeast of Conakry (Fields 2008:85).[3]
Comparative vocabulary
Comparison of basic vocabulary words (Fields 2004):[2]
| Language | eye | ear | nose | tooth | tongue | mouth | blood | bone | tree | water | eat | name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sitemu | dɔ-fɔr | lʊŋʊs | a-lolYm | de-sek | te-mera | ku-su | me-tyir | kʊ-bɛnt | kʊ-tɔk | dɔ-mun | ki-di | te-we / me-we |
| Landuma | da-fɔr | a-lʊnʊs, a-rʊns | ta-soth, ta-suth | da-sek | da-mera | kʊ-suŋ | ma-tsir, ma-cir | kʊ-bʊnt | ke-tog, kʊ-tɔɔk | da-mun, m-anc | ki-di | tayif |
| Temne | for | a-lʊns, a-lʊs | a-suth, a-sot | sek | ra-mer | saŋ | tsir | bant, kʊ-bonth | n-anʈ | m-ant | di; som | bonʈ; n-es |
| Bullom | foll | nui | min | ɛ-chang | mulliŋ, li-mɛliŋ | ɲɛn | nkong | pah | rum | men | dyo | ilillɛ |
| Kisi | hɔlten | nileŋ | miŋndo | ciŋnde | diɔ-muleŋ | sondoo | koowaŋ | paa | yɔmndo | mɛŋndaŋ | dio | diolaŋ |
| Gola | e-fe | nu | e-mia | sia | me-miel, o-mie, meer-o | o-na, ɲa | sa, ma-sei, ma-sen | ke-kpa | ke-kul, kulu | mai, mande, mandi | dze, dzɛ | e-del |
See also
References
- Guillaume Segerer & Florian Lionnet 2010. "'Isolates' in 'Atlantic'". Language Isolates in Africa workshop, Lyon, Dec. 4.
- Fields, Edda L. Before "Baga": Settlement Chronologies of the Coastal Rio Nunez Region, Earliest Times to c.1000 CE. In: The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (2004), pp. 229-253. Boston University African Studies Center.
- Fields-Black, Edda L. 2008. Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora. (Blacks in the Diaspora.) Bloomington: Indiana University Press.