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<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <title>Mende language, syllabary and pronunciationa</title> <meta content="Mende is a Mande language spoken mainly in Sierra Leone, and also in Liberia, by about 2.1 million people.)" />  <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-WB7PSHBG');</script>  <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.omniglot.com/images/logos/omniglot_thumbnail.jpg" /> <meta property="og:type" content="https://www.facebook.com/pg/Omniglot-100430558332117/posts/" /> <link href="/styles/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script src="https://the.gatekeeperconsent.com/cmp.min.js" data-cfasync="false"></script> <script async src="//www.ezojs.com/ezoic/sa.min.js"></script> <script> window.ezstandalone = window.ezstandalone || {}; ezstandalone.cmd = ezstandalone.cmd || []; </script></head> <body> <div id="header">  <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-WB7PSHBG" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <p><a href="/index.htm"><img src="/images/logos/header_omniglot.png" width="600" height="70" alt="Omniglot - the online encyclopedia of writing systems & languages" /></a></p> <ul> <li><a href="/index.htm">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/writing/index.htm">Alphabets</a></li> <li><a href="/conscripts/index.htm">Constructed scripts</a></li> <li><a href="/writing/languages.htm">Languages</a></li> <li><a href="/language/phrases/phraseindex.htm">Phrases</a></li> <li><a href="/language/numbers/index.htm">Numbers</a></li> <li><a href="/language/ml.htm">Multilingual Pages</a></li> <li><a href="/search.htm">Search</a></li> <li><a href="/news/index.htm">News</a></li> <li><a href="/about.htm">About</a></li> <li><a href="/contact.htm">Contact</a></li> </ul></div> <div id="bodybox"> <span style="text-align:center;"><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-162"></div> <script> ezstandalone.cmd.push(function() { ezstandalone.showAds(162); }); </script></span><div id="body"> <h1>Mende (Mɛnde yia / 𞠗𞢱 𞡓𞠣) <img src="../images/langnames/nm_mende.gif" width="88" height="22" class="rightfloat" alt="Mende (Mɛnde yia)" /></h1> <p>Mende is a member of the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken mainly in Sierra Leone, and also in Liberia, by about 2.1 million people. </p> <p>In Sierra Leone Mende has about 2 million speakers in Kailahun, Kenema, and Pujehun district of the Eastern province, in Bombali and Moyamba districts in the Northern province, and in interior parts of the Southern Province. Mendeis a statutory provincial working language in the areas where it is spoken, and is taught at all levels of education. </p> <p>In Liberia there were about 36,000 speakers of Mende in 2015, mainly in Porkpa district of Grand Cape Mount county, and in Vahun district of Lofa county. It is used as a second language by the Vai people. </p> <p>Mende is also known as Boumpe or Hulo, and the native names for the language are <em>Mɛnde</em> (𞡓𞠣) and <em>Mɛnde yia</em> (𞠗𞢱 𞡓𞠣). </p> <p>Mende was written with a syllbary known as <a href="kikakui.htm">Kikakui</a>, but is now usually written with the Latin alphabet. </p> <h2>Latin alphabet for Mende</h2> <p><img src="../images/writing/mende_latin.gif" width="560" height="204" alt="Latin alphabet for Mende" /> </p> <h2>Sample text (Latin alphabet)</h2> <p>Numuvuisia Kpɛlɛɛ ta ti le tɛ yɛ nduwɔ ya hu, tao ti nuvuu yei kɛɛ ti lɔnyi maa hɛwungɔ. Kiiya kɛɛ hindaluahu gɔɔla a yɛlɔ ti hun. Fale mahoungɔ ti ti nyɔnyɔhu hoi kia ndeegaa. </p> <h3>Translation</h3> <p>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.<br /> <em>(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)</em> </p> <p><em>Details compiled by Michael Peter Füstumum</em> </p> <h2>Sample video in Mende</h2> <div class="intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9"> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wZzbLsrt__w" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <div class="intrinsic-container intrinsic-container-16x9"> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XJpER1UWaSg" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <h2>Links</h2> <p>Information about Mende<br /> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mende_language">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mende_language</a><br /> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mende_Kikakui_script">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mende_Kikakui_script</a><br /> <a href="http://www.sierra-leone.org/heroes7.html">http://www.sierra-leone.org/heroes7.html</a> </p> <h2>Mande languages</h2> <p><a href="/writing/bambara.htm">Bambara</a>, <a href="/writing/boko.htm">Boko</a>, <a href="/writing/busa.htm">Busa</a>, <a href="/writing/dan.htm">Dan</a>, <a href="/writing/dioula.htm">Dioula</a>, <a href="/writing/kpelle.htm">Kpelle</a>, <a href="/writing/loma.htm">Loma</a>, <a href="/writing/mandinka.htm">Mandinka</a>, <a href="/writing/maninka.htm">Maninka</a>, <a href="/writing/mano.htm">Mano</a>, <a href="/writing/mende.htm">Mende</a>, <a href="/writing/soninke.htm">Soninke</a>, <a href="/writing/susu.htm">Susu</a>, <a href="/writing/vai.htm">Vai</a></p> <p><a href="/writing/langalph.htm#latin">Languages written with the Latin alphabet</a> </p><p><em>Page last modified: 08.05.21</em> </p> <p class="right"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.buymeacoffee.com/1.0.0/button.prod.min.js" data-name="bmc-button" data-slug="omniglot" data-color="#FFDD00" data-emoji="" data-font="Cookie" data-text="Buy me a coffee" data-outline-color="#000000" data-font-color="#000000" data-coffee-color="#ffffff"></script> </p> <p class="right">[<a href="#top">top</a>] </p> <hr /> <div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-171"></div> <script> ezstandalone.cmd.push(function() { ezstandalone.showAds(171); }); </script> <p><a href="http://my.kualo.com/uk/go/00572"><img src="https://images.kualo.com/rewards/greenhosting-light.gif" width="162" height="62" class="rightfloat" alt="Green Web Hosting - Kualo"/></a> </p> <p>You can support this site by <a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/omniglot">Buying Me A Coffee</a>, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know. </p>  <div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"> <a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> </div> <script async src="https://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js"></script>  <p> </p> <a href="http://www.japanesepod101.com/member/go.php?r=759259&i=b0" target="_blank"><img src="/images/banners/banner_japanesepod.jpg" width="630" height="83" alt="The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com" /></a><p>If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=7ZJDTZECMH3SJ">PayPal</a> or <a href="https://www.patreon.com/omniglot">Patreon</a>, or by <a href="/donations.htm">contributing in other ways</a>. 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