Kpɛlɛɛ
Kpelle
Niger-Congo (Mande)
Kpelle (Kpɛlɛɛ) is a Southwestern Mande language cluster spoken by roughly 750,000 people in Liberia and adjacent Guinea, where the Guinean variety is also known as Guerzé. Modern classifications distinguish Liberia Kpelle and Guinea Kpelle, which have separate ISO 639-3 codes, while the umbrella label Kpelle covers both. The language is tonal and is now written mainly in Latin-based orthographies. In the 1930s Chief Gbili of Sanoyea, Bong County, devised an indigenous Kpelle syllabary, used for correspondence, accounts, debts, and other records; its use later declined and it has not yet been encoded in Unicode.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Kpelle
Water
ya
/ja/
Fire
kɔ̃a
/kõa/
Sun
pelei
/pelei/
Moon
kɔŋɔ
/kɔŋɔ/
Star
ɓɔlɔŋ
/ɓɔ̀lɔ̀ŋ/
Mother
ngaa
/ŋaː/
Father
laai
/laːi/
I
ŋá
/ŋá/
You
í
/í/
Name
laa
/lâː/
Eye
ŋɛ
/ŋɛ/
Hand
yee
/jeː/
Heart
lii
/liː/
Love
gboma
/ɡboma/
Tree
woo
/woː/
House
pere
/pere/
Dog
nyila
/ɲila/
Cat
gbele
/ɡbele/
Eat
nyii
/ɲiː/
Drink
yiti
/jiti/
One
taa
/taː/
Two
feere
/fèːɽè/
Hello
halee
/haleː/
Thank you
balika
/balika/
Good
nyaŋa
/ɲaŋa/
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo (Mande) languages
| Meaning | Kpelle | Mandinka | Konabéré | Mende | Dyula | Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | Greenlandic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ya /ja/ | jiyo /dʒijo/ | ji /dʒi/ | njei /ndʒei/ | ji /dʒi/ | ܡܝܐ /mijja/ | imeq /imeq/ |
| Fire | kɔ̃a /kõa/ | dimbaa /dimbaː/ | ta /ta/ | ngombu /ŋɡombu/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | ܢܘܪܐ /nura/ | ikuallaq /ikuaɬːaq/ |
| Sun | pelei /pelei/ | tilo /tilo/ | tile /tile/ | foni /foni/ | tile /tile/ | ܫܡܫܐ /ʃimʃa/ | seqineq /seqineq/ |
| Moon | kɔŋɔ /kɔŋɔ/ | karoo /karoː/ | kalo /kalo/ | ngewɔ /ŋɡewɔ/ | kalo /kalo/ | ܣܗܪܐ /sahra/ | qaammat /qaːmːat/ |
| Star | ɓɔlɔŋ /ɓɔ̀lɔ̀ŋ/ | looloo /loːloː/ | tɛnɛ /tɛ̀nɛ̀/ | ngɔlɔ /ᵑɡɔlɔ/ | dolo /dólo/ | ܟܵܘܟ݂ܒ݂ܵܐ /ˈkoxwa/ | ulloriaq /uɬːɔʁiaq/ |
| Mother | ngaa /ŋaː/ | baa /baː/ | ba /ba/ | nje /ndʒe/ | ba /ba/ | ܝܡܐ /jimma/ | anaana /anaːna/ |
| Father | laai /laːi/ | faa /faː/ | fa /fa/ | nya /ɲa/ | fa /fa/ | ܒܒܐ /baba/ | ataata /ataːta/ |
| I | ŋá /ŋá/ | nte /nte/ | n /ǹ/ | nya /ɲá/ | ń /ŋ́/ | ܐܵܢܵܐ /ˈʔɑːnɑ/ | uanga /uaŋa/ |
| You | í /í/ | ite /ite/ | i /í/ | bi /bí/ | í /í/ | ܐܲܢ݉ܬ /ʔat/ | illit /iɬːit/ |
| Name | laa /lâː/ | too /toː/ | to /tō/ | láá /láá/ | tɔgɔ /tɔ́gɔ/ | ܫܸܡܵܐ /ˈʃɪmma/ | ateq /atəq/ |
| Eye | ŋɛ /ŋɛ/ | ɲaa /ɲaː/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ngama /ŋɡama/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ܥܝܢܐ /ʕajna/ | isi /isi/ |
| Hand | yee /jeː/ | buloo /buloː/ | bolo /bolo/ | lɔkɔ /lɔkɔ/ | bolo /bolo/ | ܐܝܕܐ /iːða/ | assak /asːak/ |
| Heart | lii /liː/ | sondomoo /sondomoː/ | dusu /dusu/ | mola /mola/ | dusu /dusu/ | ܠܒܐ /libba/ | uummat /uːmːat/ |
| Love | gboma /ɡboma/ | kanu /kanu/ | kana /kana/ | ndolo /ndolo/ | kanu /kanu/ | ܚܘܒܐ /xubba/ | asaaq /asaːq/ |
| Tree | woo /woː/ | yiroo /jiroː/ | yiri /jiri/ | ngulu /ŋɡulu/ | yiri /jiri/ | ܐܝܠܢܐ /ilana/ | orpik /oɾpik/ |
| House | pere /pere/ | buŋo /buŋo/ | so /so/ | pɛlɛ /pɛlɛ/ | so /so/ | ܒܝܬܐ /beθa/ | illu /iɬːu/ |
| Dog | nyila /ɲila/ | wuloo /wuloː/ | fugo /fuɡo/ | nguje /ŋɡudʒe/ | wulu /wulu/ | ܟܠܒܐ /kalba/ | qimmeq /qimːeq/ |
| Cat | gbele /ɡbele/ | ñankuma /ɲankuma/ | nyukuma /ɲukuma/ | gɔngɔ /ɡɔŋɡɔ/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | ܩܛܘ /qaːtu/ | qitsuk /qitsuk/ |
| Eat | nyii /ɲiː/ | domo /domo/ | don /don/ | mɛ /mɛ/ | dun /dun/ | ܐܟܠ /axil/ | nerivoq /neɾivoq/ |
| Drink | yiti /jiti/ | miŋ /miŋ/ | min /min/ | ngu /ŋɡu/ | min /min/ | ܫܬܐ /ʃate/ | imerpoq /imeɾpoq/ |
| One | taa /taː/ | kiliŋ /kiliŋ/ | kelen /kelen/ | yila /jila/ | kelen /kelen/ | ܚܕ /xa/ | ataaseq /ataːseq/ |
| Two | feere /fèːɽè/ | fula /fula/ | pla /plà/ | fele /félé/ | fila /fìla/ | ܬܪܹܝܢ /treːn/ | marluk /maɬːuk/ |
| Hello | halee /haleː/ | salaam /salaːm/ | ka kɛ /ka kɛ/ | bua /bua/ | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ | ܫܠܡܐ /ʃlaːma/ | aluu /aluː/ |
| Thank you | balika /balika/ | abaraka /abaraka/ | baraka /baɾaka/ | bisɛ /bisɛ/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | ܒܣܝܡܐ /basima/ | qujanaq /qujanaq/ |
| Good | nyaŋa /ɲaŋa/ | beteyaa /betejaː/ | ɲuman /ɲuman/ | nyande /ɲande/ | ɲuman /ɲuman/ | ܛܒܐ /tˤaba/ | ajunngilaq /ajuŋːilaq/ |
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