Gola language
Gola | |
---|---|
Gola, ꖑꕞ | |
Native to | Western Liberia & along the border with Sierra Leone |
Ethnicity | Gola |
Native speakers | 200,000 (2019–2020)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | gol |
Glottolog | gola1255 |
Gola is a language of
Classification
Gola is not closely related to other languages and appears to form its own branch of the
Distribution
According to Ethnologue, Gola is spoken in widespread regions across Liberia. It is spoken in Gbarpolu County, Grand Cape Mount County, and Lofa County (between the Mano River and Saint Paul River), as well as in inland areas of Bomi County and Montserrado County.
Dialects are Deng (Todii), Kongba, and Senje.
Phonology
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | p b | d
|
tʃ dʒ | k g | kp gb | |
Implosive
|
ɓ | |||||
Fricative | f v | s z | h | |||
Nasal | m m̥ | n n̥
|
ɲ | ŋ | ŋm | |
Approximant | w | l
|
j |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i iː | u uː | |
Mid-high | e | o | |
Mid-low | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | |
Low | a aː |
There are at least two tones: high and low. Middle, falling, and rising tones can also be found, but may be allophones conditioned by the presence certain consonants that have a lowering or raising effect on the pronunciation of the tone.[4]
Writing system
Multiple writing systems have been used to transcribe the Gola language. Until recently, the
References
- ^ Gola at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Guillaume Segerer & Florian Lionnet 2010. "'Isolates' in 'Atlantic'" Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Language Isolates in Africa workshop, Lyon, Dec. 4
- ^ Fields, Edda L. Before "Baga": Settlement Chronologies of the Coastal Rio Nunez Region, Earliest Times to c.1000 CE. In: The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (2004), pp. 229-253. Boston University African Studies Center.
- ^ a b c Koroma, Regine (1994). "Die Morphosyntax des Gola". Afrikanistische Monografien (AMO). 4. Institut für Afrikanistik, University of Cologne: xiv+215.
- Wikidata Q86531772.