| Language name: | KPELLE |
| UPSID number: | 4103 |
| Alternate name(s): | |
| Classification: | Niger-Kordofanian, Mande |
| This language has | 34 segments |
| Its Frequency index is | 0.382744229 (average percentage of segments; 0.1: many very rare segments; 0.39: average; 0.7: many common segments) |
| The language has these sounds: | p b t d k g kW kp gb f v s z b< l j gF gW r[ i i~ I E E~ a a~ O~ u u~ U O m n N |
| Comment: | Voiced plosives and fricatives can be morphophonemically derived (in initial position following a low-toned nasal, which deletes). Kpelle has three surface level tones. |
| Source(s): | Hyman, L.M. 1973. Notes on the history of Southwestern Mande. Studies in African Linguistics 4: 183-96. Welmers, W.E. 1962. The phonology of Kpelle. Journal of African Languages 1: 69-93. Welmers, W.E. 1973. African Language Structures. University of California Press, Berkeley. |