Temne (KʌThemnɛ)

Temne is member of the Mel branch of the Atlantic-Congo language family. It is spoken by about 3.5 million people in the Northern and Southern Provinces and the Western Area of central Sierra Leone. Temne is also known as Themne, Temen, Temne, Timene, Timmannee or Timne.

Temne is studied at all levels of education in Sierra Leone.

Temne alphabet

Notes

• Tildes are used to indicate the nasalization of vowels, e.g. ã.
• An alternative way to write the sound /ʌ/ is å

Download an alphabet chart for Themne (Excel)

Sample text in Temne

A kom aŋfəm akəpet bɛ ŋa athənånɛ yi råwankom. Ɔwa aŋ ba məmari məthənånɛ. Ɔwa aŋ ba məfith yi təchemp. Chiyaŋ, aŋ yi təkə gbasi aŋkos ŋaŋ mɔ kəpa ŋa təkom.

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 video in Temne

Links

Information about the Temne language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temne_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/tem/
https://www.livelingua.com/peace-corps/Temne/Peace Corps Temne Language Manual.pdf

Atlantic-Congo languages

Bandial, Bariba, Efik, Ibibio, Kambari, Kissi, Kom, Laalaa, Limba, Mbum, Mundang, Noon, Obolo, Safen, Supyire, Temne, Ubang, Yemba

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 23.04.21

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