The Mah language, also known as Mano, Mah, Mah-Yacouba, and Mawe, is a significant Mande language of Liberia and Guinea. It is spoken primarily in Nimba County in north-central Liberia and in Nzérékoré, Lola and Yomou Prefectures in Guinea.
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oral | nasal | oral | nasal | oral | nasal | |
| Close | i | ĩ | u | ũ | ||
| Close-mid | e | o | ||||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɛ̃ | ɔ | ɔ̃ | ||
| Open | a | ã | ||||
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labialized Velar | Velar-Labial | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | ||
| Plosives | voiceless | p | t | k | kʷ | k͡p | |
| voiced | b | d | g | ɡʷ | ɡ͡b | ||
| Implosive | ɓ | ||||||
| Fricatives | voiceless | f | s | ||||
| voiced | v | z | |||||
| Approximants | w | l | j | ||||
Tones
The language has nine register and contour tones.
Sample Text
Kɛɛ pɛ séĩ é tĩã kɛɛ̀ ɓea, Wééa e ke ɓe. Wéé e kília e kɛ Wálà píé, ɛ̃ɛ̃ e kɛ Wálà ká. Wéé e kília e kɛ Wálà píé pɛ séĩ ga-gbɛ̃pìà. Wééa kolo làa lɛ́ Wálà e pɛ séĩ kɛɛ. Pɛ séĩ lɛ́ e ɓea dò wá ɓe kɛ à kɛɛ̀ é gɔ̃ kɛɛ̀á à kolo là. Kèɓe e kɛ Wééa yí. Kèɓe e kília e kɛ lɛ̀ fɔ̀nɔɔ̀ɔ ká mia lɛ̀ɛ. Lɛ̀ fɔ̀nɔɔ̀ɔ e kília, lɛ́ɛ̀ lɛ̀ fɔ̀nɔ bĩ tii bà, ɛ̃ɛ̃ bĩ tii e kília à kɔ̀ lɛ̀ɛ́ die do lɛ̀ fɔ̀nɔɔ̀ɔ là. Gɔ̃ doó lɛ́ ò si Zɔ̃ɔ̃ɔ e kɛ ɓe. Wálà lɛ́ e à vɔɔ.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
— The Bible3
See also
References
Christopher Green and Steven Moran. 2014. Mann sound inventory (GM). In: Moran, Steven & McCloy, Daniel & Wright, Richard (eds.) PHOIBLE Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. (Available online at http://phoible.org/inventories/view/1518, Accessed on 2016-11-12.) http://phoible.org/inventories/view/1518 ↩
Khatchaturyan, Maria. 2015. Grammaire du mano. Mandenkan 54, 1-252. http://llacan.vjf.cnrs.fr/PDF/Mandenkan54/54khachaturyan.pdf ↩
"Mano Language Sample | Language Museum". www.language-museum.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12. http://www.language-museum.com/encyclopedia/m/mano.php ↩