Mende language

Mende /ˈmɛndi/ (Mɛnde yia) is a major language of Sierra Leone, with some speakers in neighboring Liberia and Guinea. It is spoken by the Mende people and by other ethnic groups as a regional lingua franca in southern Sierra Leone. In southern Sierra Leone, it is the regional lingua franca that allows all tribes to communicate.

Not to be confused with Mende language (Papua New Guinea).
Mende
Mɛnde yia / 𞠗𞢱𞡓𞠣 /
Native toSierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea
RegionSouth central Sierra Leone
EthnicityMende people
Native speakers
2.5 million (2019–2020)
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Ko
  • Kpa
  • Sewawa
  • Wanjama
Latin
Mende Kikakui script
Language codes
ISO 639-2men
ISO 639-3men
Glottologmend1266

Mende is a tonal language belonging to the Mande language family. Early systematic descriptions of Mende were by F. W. Migeod and Kenneth Crosby.

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