EBKUST Lecture Notes Template Name Of Lecturer: Augustine Momoh Turay Course Title: Linguistics- Introduction to Sierra Leonean Language-ThemnE Course Goal: The goal of this online teaching is to allow learners have access to Lecture Notes learning materials in order to master the form and structure of Themne, a core Sierra Leonean Language. Class & Semester: B.Ed.2-2nd Semester Course Status: Core Course Code:232 Credit Hours:2 Email: [email protected] Phone: +232-78 563 -677 Date & Time: Topic: : Historical Background of Themne. Week : 1 Lecture No.:1 Learning Objective: By the end of this lesson, learners should be able to understand the historical background of Themne in Sierra Leone, its dialects and the geographic concentration of the Themne People WEEK 1 WEEK1 Questions: Notes: 1. Give a brief history of the Themne Language Historical Background in Sierra Leone, taking into consideration its The Themnε people and thus their language migrated into Sierra Leone from dialects and Futa Jallon in present day Guinea a very long time ago. This migration was a geographic direct result of a dispute between the susus and the mandinkas further north. In concentration about 1233, a religious war broke out between the predominantly Muslim mandinkas and the non-Muslim susus. The mandinkas wanted to subdue the susus and convert them into Islam, this was vehemently rejected by the susus, a conflict ensued in which the mandinkas emerged victorious. This forced the susus to flee southwards in search of a new settlement. Moving southwards they encountered the Themnεs together with other ethnic groups like the Kissi, Bullom, Gola, Krim, Lamdoma and possibly the Limba in the Futa Jallon region. Subsequently, they clashed with the Themnεs and the Themnεs too moved southwards into present day northern Sierra Leone, where they predominantly occupy till date. Today, Themnε is spoken predominantly in the Tonkolili, Kambia, Port Loko, Bombali districts in northern Sierra Leone, and the people constitute 32% of the population of Sierra Leone (2004 population census), inhabiting 10,000 to 11,000 sq miles to the west coast, eastwards themneland stretches all the way to Kono district. The Themnes are mostly farmers, hunters and fishermen. Themne contains five dialects (Dalby 1962), each conditioned by direct interaction with proximate linguistic, social and cultural factors. These factors are usually manifested in distinct languages, as in the case of Themne which is surrounded by at least eight different languages including Limba, Koranko, Fula, Mende, Kono, Mandingo and Susu. EBKUST Lecture Notes Template The dialects are; Western Dialect; which is subdivided into the north-western variety spoken predominantly in the Samu, Magbema and Dixing chiefdoms in the Port Loko district and also around the Freetown peninsula, and the Sanda variety spoken in the buya Romende chiefdom in the Port Loko district and the Sanda Tandaraŋ and Gbanti Kamaranka chiefdoms in the Bombali district The Yoni dialect; spoken mainly in the Yonibana chiefdom in the Port Loko district and the Gbonkolenken, Kaffu Bullom, Marforki and Marampa- masimera chiefdoms in the Port Loko district. The Bombali dialect spoken mainly in the Makari, Gbanti and Bombali Shebora chiefdoms in the Bombali district, and also in the Masongbala chiefdom in the Kambia district The Eastern Konke dialect; spoken in the Konke, Fulawoso and Konke Barina chiefdoms in the Tonkolili district. The Western Konke dialect; spoken in the Tane and Kholifa-Mamuntha-Rowala chiefdoms in the Tonkolili district. Greenberg (1963) classifies Themne as a West Atlantic language belonging to the Niger-Congo Family. West Atlantic languages also include Wolof spoken in Senegal and Gambia, Fula and Mandingo spoken all over West Africa and Limba spoken in Sierra Leone. In a sub-classification by Dalby (1966), Themne was sub-classified as Mel language belonging to the southern branch of the West Atlantic languages. Themne was later re-classified by Welmers (1971) as a northern Mande language of the West Atlantic Family. This reclassification established Kono, Koranko, Mandingo, Susu, Vai, Yalunka, Fula, Bage and other Bantu languages in central, south and east Africa as sister languages of Themne. The Temne people constitute one of the largest ethnic groups of Sierra Leone. Their largest concentrations are found in the northwestern and central parts of Sierra Leone, as well as the coastal capital city of Freetown. Although Temne speakers live mostly in the Northern Province, they also can be found in a number of other West African countries as well, including Guinea and The Gambia. Some Temnes have migrated beyond West Africa seeking educational and professional opportunities in countries such as Great Britain, the United States, and Egypt. Temnes are primarily composed of scholars, business people, farmers, and coastal fishermen. Most Temnes are Muslim. The earliest mention of Themne and other ethnic groups of Sierra Leone are in the records of Portuguese financed explorers such as those of Valentim Fernandes and Pacheco Pereira who were traveling along the coast of Africa to find a route to India and China. Pereira's memoirs written between 1505 and 1508 mention Temne words for gold ("tebongo"), water ("'mant 'mancha") and rice ("nack maloo," borrowed from Mandinka). The Portuguese records describe the culture and religion of the Temne people their ships met as communities living near water, worshippers of idols made of clay, and men having their gods while women their own".." The Portuguese citizen from Cape Verde named André Álvares de Almada wrote an extensive handbook on Sierra Leone in 1594, urging the Portuguese to colonize the region. This handbook also described Temne society and culture in the 16th century. The text mentions villages, their courts of justice, and lawyers who represented different parties while wearing "grotesque masks", with the chief presiding. Culprits convicted of serious crimes, claimed de Almada, were EBKUST Lecture Notes Template killed or enslaved. He also described the rituals of chief's succession involving goat blood and rice flour, marriage dances, and a funeral involving the burial of the dead within one's house with gold ornaments. Summary: In this lesson, we have looked at the historical background of Themne and the geographic spread of the Themne people. The Themnε people and thus their language migrated into Sierra Leone from Futa Jallon in present day Guinea. Themnε is spoken predominantly in the Tonkolili, Kambia, Port Loko, Bombali districts in northern Sierra Leone. Assignment: With as many examples as possible, prepare a presentation that will clearly show dialectal differences in meaning between two major dialects of ThemnE in Sierra Leone. Further Reading: Read on the phonology, syntax and morphology of themnE in Sierra Leone References: 1. Bai-Sheka, Abou. 2007. Temne–English dictionary. Kearney: Morris Publishing. Google Scholar 2. Dalby, David. 1966. Lexical analysis of Temne with an illustrative word list. Journal of West African Languages 3, 5–26. Google Scholar 3. Kamarah, Sheik U. 1994. Phonology and tonology in the morphology of Temne: A lexicalist approach. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Google Scholar 4. Kamarah, Sheik U. 2007. A descriptive grammar of KaThemne (Temne). Munich: Lincom. Google Scholar 5. Scott J. P. L. (1956), An Introduction to Themne Grammar. Freetown: Sierra Leone Government Publication. 6. [Anonyme] 1980 A Themne Orthography Workshop-held during February 18-22. Freetown: Ministry of Education. .