Mende
Niger-Congo (Mande)
Mende is a Mande language of the Niger-Congo family spoken by about 2 million people, chiefly in southern and eastern Sierra Leone and by smaller communities in Liberia and Guinea. It is one of Sierra Leone's principal national languages and serves as a provincial working language in much of its core area. Mende is tonal and is normally written today with a Latin-based orthography. The right-to-left Mende Kikakui syllabary was devised around 1917 by Mohamed Turay and substantially expanded by Kisimi Kamara, who promoted it from the 1920s; although it is now little used, Unicode encodes it as a distinct script.
Where it is spoken
87 core words in Mende
Sources
- Mende New Testament "Ngowili Yekpei" (MENNT), bible.com version 2951; ASJP MENDE / MENDE_2 (confirmation)
Words compared
Compared with languages in the same classification: Niger-Congo (Mande)
| Meaning | Mende | Kpelle | Vai | Bambara | Dyula | Eastern Maninka | Kita Maninkakan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | njei /ndʒei/ | ya /ja/ | ꕀ /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ |
| Fire | ngɔmbu /ŋɡɔmbu/ | ŋɔŋ /ŋɔŋ/ | ꕚ /ta/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | ta /ta/ | tasuma /tasuma/ |
| Sun | folo /folo/ | fólo /fólo/ | ꔎꔒ /tele/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ | tele /tele/ | tle /tle/ |
| Moon | ngalu /ŋɡalu/ | ɣáloŋ /ɣáloŋ/ | ꕪꖃ /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | karo /karo/ | kalo /kalo/ |
| Star | tumbeka /tumbeka/ | pɛmɛlɛŋ-kao /pɛmɛlɛŋ kao/ | ꗋꗏ /tólò/ | dolo /dòlo/ | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ |
| Night | kpindi /kpindi/ | kpini /kpini/ | lifi /lifi/ | su /su/ | su /su/ | su /su/ | su /su/ |
| Wind | fɛfɛ /fɛfɛ/ | fãa /fãː/ | ꔱꕩ /fija/ | fiɲɛ /fiɲɛ/ | fɔɲɔ /fɔɲɔ/ | fɔɲɔ /fɔɲɔ/ | fɔɲɔ /fɔɲɔ/ |
| Stone | kɔtu /kɔtu/ | kɔni /kɔni/ | ꔖꘋ /sɛŋ/ | kaba /kaba/ | kabakuru /kabakuru/ | kaba /kaba/ | — |
| Mountain | ngiye /ŋɡije/ | — | ꗛꖻ /koõ/ | kulu /kulu/ | kulu /kulu/ | kɔnkɛ /kɔŋkɛ/ | — |
| Mother | nje /ndʒe/ | nee /neː/ | ꕒ /ɓa/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ |
| Father | kɛkɛ /kɛkɛ/ | nâŋ /nâŋ/ | ꕘ /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ |
| Daughter | nyahalo /ɲahalo/ | lóŋ-nɛni /lóŋ nɛni/ | ꔔꘋ ꖷꖬꕮ /dɛ̃ musuma/ | denmuso /dɛnmuso/ | denmuso /denmuso/ | denmuso /dɛnmuso/ | — |
| I | nya /ɲá/ | ńyãa /ńjãː/ | ꘋ /ŋ̀/ | ne /nè/ | n /ŋ́/ | ne /ne/ | ne /ne/ |
| You | bi /bí/ | í /í/ | ꔤ /ì/ | i /í/ | i /í/ | i /i/ | i /i/ |
| We | mu /mu/ | kú /kú/ | ꖷ /mù/ | an /án/ | an /án/ | an /án/ | an /án/ |
| Name | laa /láá/ | lâa /lâː/ | ꕿꘌ /tɔ́ː/ | tɔgɔ /tɔ̀ɡɔ/ | tɔgɔ /tɔ́ɡɔ/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ |
| Person | numu /numu/ | nuu /nuː/ | ꗞ /mo/ | mɔgɔ /mɔ̀ɡɔ/ | mɔgɔ /mɔ̀ɡɔ/ | mɔɔ /mɔː/ | — |
| Head | ngu /ŋɡu/ | — | ꖴꘋ /kuŋ/ | kun /kun/ | kunkolo /kunkolo/ | kun /kũ/ | — |
| Eye | ngama /ŋɡama/ | ŋɛ /ŋɛ/ | ꕰ /ɲa/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ɲa /ɲa/ | ña /ɲa/ |
| Ear | woli /wóli/ | — | ꕿꖃ /tɔlɔ/ | tulo /tulo/ | tulo /tulo/ | tolo /tolo/ | tulo /tulo/ |
| Mouth | nda /nda/ | — | ꕞ /la/ | da /da/ | da /da/ | da /da/ | — |
| Tooth | ngongou /ŋɡoŋɡou/ | nyiŋ /ɲiŋ/ | ɲiŋ /ɲiŋ/ | ɲin /ɲĩ/ | ɲin /ɲĩ/ | ɲin /ɲĩ/ | ɲin /ɲĩ/ |
| Tongue | nɛi /nɛi/ | nɛŋ /nɛŋ/ | nɛ /nɛ/ | nɛn /nɛn/ | nɛn /nɛn/ | nɛn /nɛn/ | nɛn /nɛn/ |
| Hand | loko /loko/ | yee /jeː/ | ꗃꗏ /ɓolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ |
| Foot | kɔwɔ /kɔwɔ/ | kɔɔ /kɔː/ | ꔞꘋ /keŋ/ | sen /sèn/ | sen /sen/ | sen /sen/ | — |
| Heart | lii /liː/ | lii /liː/ | ꔖꕇ /sɛni/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | jusu /dʒusu/ | dusu /dusu/ |
| Bone | kala /kala/ | kau /kau/ | kuru /kuru/ | kolo /kolo/ | kolo /kolo/ | kolo /kolo/ | kulu /kulu/ |
| Blood | ŋama /ŋama/ | ŋãa /ŋãː/ | wuli /wuli/ | joli /dʒoli/ | joli /dʒoli/ | jeli /dʒeli/ | joli /dʒoli/ |
| Love | ndolo /ndolo/ | wɛli /wɛli/ | ꔷꕩ /lija/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanin /kanĩ/ | kanu /kanu/ |
| Tree | ngulu /ŋɡulu/ | wúru /wúru/ | ꗛꘋ /kɔŋ/ | jiri /dʒiri/ | yiri /jiri/ | yiri /jiɾi/ | yiri /jiɾi/ |
| Dog | ngila /ŋɡila/ | nyila /ɲila/ | ꖙꖨ /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ |
| Cat | gɔngɔ /ɡɔŋɡɔ/ | nyàle /ɲàle/ | ꖷꖬ /musu/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | ɲaari /ɲaːri/ | ñaakuma /ɲaːkuma/ |
| Fish | nyɛ /ɲɛ/ | nyɛ̃ɛ /ɲɛ̃ː/ | nyɛ /ɲɛ/ | jɛgɛ /dʒɛɡɛ/ | jɛgɛ /dʒɛɡɛ/ | jɛɛ /dʒɛː/ | jɛgɛ /dʒɛɡɛ/ |
| Egg | ngalu /ŋɡalu/ | — | ꔞꔤ /kɛi/ | shɛfan /ʃɛfã/ | sisɛfan /sisɛfã/ | kili /kili/ | — |
| Horse | so /so/ | soo /soː/ | ꖇ /sɔ/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | — |
| House | pɛlɛ /pɛlɛ/ | pɛ́rɛ /pɛ́rɛ/ | ꖴꖕ /kuu/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | bon /bon/ | so /so/ |
| Milk | nyiniya /ɲinija/ | ŋíni-ya /ŋíni ja/ | ꖬꖬ /susu/ | nɔnɔ /nɔnɔ/ | nɔnɔ /nɔnɔ/ | nɔnɔ /nɔnɔ/ | nɔnɔ /nɔnɔ/ |
| Honey | kɔmi /kɔmi/ | kwɛ̃ŋ-wulɔ /kwɛ̃ŋ wulɔ/ | ꖴꖷ /kumu/ | di /di/ | li /li/ | li /li/ | — |
| Salt | kpolo /kpolo/ | kpolo /kpolo/ | ꖏ /kɔ/ | kɔgɔ /kɔɡɔ/ | kɔgɔ /kɔɡɔ/ | kɔɔ /kɔː/ | kɔgɔ /kɔɡɔ/ |
| Wine | ndɔ /ndɔ/ | — | ꔠꔪ ꗬ /ɡɛpi kpɛ/ | diwɛn /diwɛn/ | divɛn /divɛ̃/ | — | ɛrɛsɛnji /ɛrɛsɛndʒi/ |
| Iron | kɔlu /kɔlu/ | kɔli /kɔli/ | ꖴꖫ /kundu/ | nɛgɛ /nɛɡɛ/ | nɛgɛ /nɛɡɛ/ | nɛɛ /nɛː/ | neke /neke/ |
| Silk | siki /siki/ | — | — | hadiri /hadiri/ | — | — | — |
| Book | kɔlɔ /kɔlɔ/ | kɔlɔ /kɔlɔ/ | ꕺꖃ /kpɔlɔ/ | gafe /ɡafe/ | gafe /ɡafe/ | gbafe /ɡbafe/ | — |
| Eat | mɛ /mɛ/ | mii /miː/ | ꗏꘋ /lɔŋ/ | dun /dũ/ | dun /dun/ | domun /domũ/ | don /don/ |
| Drink | kpɔle /kpɔle/ | kpele /kpele/ | ꕆ /mi/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ |
| One | yila /jila/ | tɔnɔ /tɔnɔ/ | ꗏꗒ /lɔnɗɔ/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ |
| Two | fele /félé/ | feerɛ /feːrɛ/ | ꗱꘌꕟ /fèːrà/ | fila /fìla/ | fila /fìla/ | fila /fila/ | fila /fila/ |
| Three | sawa /sawa/ | saaƃa /saːɓa/ | ꕢꕔ /sakpa/ | saba /saba/ | saba /saba/ | saba /saba/ | saba /saba/ |
| Four | naani /naːni/ | náaŋ /náːŋ/ | naani /naːni/ | naani /naːni/ | naani /naːni/ | naani /naːni/ | naani /naːni/ |
| Five | lɔɔlu /lɔːlu/ | lɔ́ɔlu /lɔ́ːlu/ | sóólu /soːlu/ | duuru /duːru/ | duuru /dúːru/ | loolu /lóːlu/ | loolu /lóːlu/ |
| Hundred | hɔndɔ /hɔndɔ/ | ŋuŋ /ŋuŋ/ | ꖽꗒ /hɔnɗɔ/ | kɛmɛ /kɛmɛ/ | kɛmɛ /kɛ̀mɛ́/ | kɛmɛ /kɛmɛ/ | — |
| Hello | bua /bua/ | halee /haleː/ | ꘋꕯ ꖬꕎ ꘃꗡ ꗪ ꔤ ꕮ /ŋna suwa kɛɛ ɓɛ i ma/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃɛ/ | i ni sɔgɔma /i ni sɔɡɔma/ | i ni se /i ni se/ | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ |
| Thank you | bisɛ /bisɛ/ | balika /balika/ | ꔤ ꕒꔤꕪ /i ɓaika/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃɛ/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ |
| Good | nyande /ɲande/ | lɛ́lɛɛ /lɛ́lɛː/ | ꕈ /ɲi/ | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ | ɲuman /ɲuman/ | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ | ñuman /ɲuman/ |
| New | nina /nina/ | nina /nina/ | ꕯꕮ /nama/ | kura /kura/ | kura /kura/ | kuda /kuda/ | — |
| Red | kpɔlu /kpɔlu/ | kpɔlu /kpɔlu/ | kpou /kpou/ | bilen /bilen/ | bilen /bilen/ | wulen /wulen/ | bilen /bileɲ/ |
| White | kɔlɛ /kɔlɛ/ | kole /kole/ | ꗬ /kpɛ/ | jɛ /dʒɛ/ | gwɛ /ɡwɛ/ | gbɛ /ɡbɛ/ | — |
| Black | tɛli /tɛli/ | tɛi /tɛi/ | ꔱꘋ /fiŋ/ | fin /fin/ | fin /fin/ | fin /fiɲ/ | — |
| Blue | bulu /bulu/ | buluŋ /buluŋ/ | dsiron /dʒiron/ | bulaman /bulaman/ | bulaman /bulaman/ | — | — |
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