Vai (ꕙꔤ)

Vai is a member of Western Mande group of Niger-Congo languages. It is spoken in Liberia and Sierra Leone by about 212,200 people. There are about 189,000 Vai speakers in Bomi county and Grand Cape Mount county in the northwest of Liberia, and about 23,300 speakers in the Pujehun district of the Southern province of Sierra Leone.

Vai is also known as Gallinas, Gallines, Vei or Vy. It is mainly written with the Vai syllabary, and can also be written with the Latin alphabet.

Latin alphabet for Vai

Latin alphabet for Vai

Download script charts for Vai (Excel)

Notes

Tones are not usually indicated in written Vai.

Sample text

Adhama deng nu gbi tong manja deng nu wa anuan wooloo kiiye fe, amu bee sii londoe wa be anuan koowa. anda koo temaan lo ka so amu anu fala be. Koomu anuhin koo nu tahaye lei la kemu nehin nyoon la kung tiya anu te.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample videos in Vai

Information about Vai | Vai syllabary | Phrases | Numbers

Links

Information about Vai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vai_language
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idioma_vai
http://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/vai
https://phoible.org/inventories/view/1034
https://r12a.github.io/scripts/vai/vai.html

Mande languages

Bambara, Busa, Dan, Dioula, Kpelle, Loma, Mandinka, Maninka, Mano, Mende, Soninke, Susu, Vai

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 24.03.22

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