Blog

Kpelle

Kpelle syllabary   Kpelle

Origin

The Kpelle syllabary was invented during the 1930s by Chief Gbili of
Sanoyea, Liberia. It was used to some extent by speakers of Kpelle
in Liberia and Guinea during the 1930s and early 1940s but never
achieved popular acceptance.

Today Kpelle is usually written with a version of the Latin alphabet.

Notable features

  • The Kpelle syllabary consists of 88 graphemes and is written
    from left to right in horizontal rows.
  • Many of the glyphs have more than one form.

Used to write

Kpelle, a member of Mande group of Niger-Congo languages spoken
by about 490,000 people in Liberia and around 300,000 people in Guinea.

Kpelle syllabary

The Kpelle font used on this page was created by Jason Glavy

Sample text in Kpelle (Latin alphabet)

Nukan gele kaa pələ kaa tanɔn, yiliɓa nu kəle
maawiyə pələ da tɔɔi gaa ɲei yɛnɛyii
hu kɛpələ kaalɔ tanɔn; di kɛmɛni a nukan
ŋaa ɓə gɛɛ hwəkɛli wɛlikɛmaa
ə lɔ di luwai.

Translation

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.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

  • Post category:Languages
  • Reading time:2 mins read