The Southwestern Mande languages are a branch of the Mande languages spoken in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. There are around 2.8 million total speakers. The largest languages by far are Mende of Sierra Leone, with 1.4 million, and Kpelle of Liberia and Guinea, with 1.2 million.
| Southwestern Mande | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia |
| Linguistic classification | Niger–Congo
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| Subdivisions |
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| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | sout2842 |
Member languages
edit- Mende, spoken by 1.4 million in the Southern and Eastern provinces, Sierra Leone
- Loko, spoken by around 140,000 predominantly in Bombali and Port Loko districts, Sierra Leone.
- Kpelle, spoken by around 1.2 million in central Liberia and Guinée forestière, Guinea.
- Loma, or Toma, spoken by around 300,000 in Guinea and Liberia.
- Zialo, once classified as a dialect of Loma, spoken by around 25,000 around Macenta and Guéckédougou, Guinea.
- Gbandi, spoken by around 100,000 in Liberia.
Classification
editA likely internal classification is as follows.[1]
References
edit- ^ Kastenholz, Raimund (1996). Sprachgeschichte im West-Mande : Methoden und Rekonstruktionen. Köln: Köppe. p. 281. ISBN 3896450719. OCLC 42295840.
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