Loma language
Mande language spoken in West Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Loma (Loghoma, Looma, Lorma) is a Mande language spoken by the Loma people of Liberia and Guinea.
| Loma | |
|---|---|
| Looma | |
| Lɔ̀ɔ̀màgòòi[1] / Löömàgòòi / Löghömàgòòi | |
| Pronunciation | [lɔːmàɡòːi] [lɔɣɔmàɡòːi] |
| Native to | Liberia, Guinea |
| Ethnicity | Loma |
Native speakers | 560,000 (2017–2020)[2] |
Niger–Congo
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:lom – Liberian Lomatod – Toma |
| Glottolog | loma1259 |
Löghömagiti [lɔɣɔmaɡiti] in Guinea
Löghömàgòòi [lɔɣɔmàɡòːi]
| People | Löömàgìtì [lɔːmàɡìtì] in Liberia Löghömagiti [lɔɣɔmaɡiti] in Guinea |
|---|---|
| Language | Löömàgòòi [lɔːmàɡòːi] Löghömàgòòi [lɔɣɔmàɡòːi] |
Dialects of Loma proper in Liberia are Gizima, Wubomei, Ziema, Bunde, Buluyiema. The dialect of Guinea, Toma (Toa, Toale, Toali, or Tooma, the Malinke name for Loma), is an official regional language.
In Liberia, the people and language are also known as "Bouze" (Busy, Buzi), which is considered offensive.
Writing systems
Phonology
Loma has 21 consonants, 28 vowels, and 2 tones.[6]
Every vowel has 4 forms: Short and non-nasalized, Short and nasalized, Long and non-nasalized, and Long and nasalized making a total of 28 vowels.
Loma has 2 tones: the High Tone (˦) ⟨á⟩ and the Low Tone (˨) ⟨à⟩.
Sample
The Lord's Prayer in Loma:[7]
Yài è ga gé ɣeeai è gee-zuvɛ,
ɓaa ɣa la yà laa-zeigi ma,
yà masadai va,
è yii-mai ɣɛ zui zu è ɣɛ velei é ɣɛɛzu la è wɔ vɛ,
è zaa mii ŋenigi ʋe gé ya,
è gé vaa ʋaitiɛ zu ʋaa yɛ,
è ɣɛ velei gá ɓalaa gé zɔitiɛ zu ʋaa yɛga la gá ʋaa yega te va.
Mɛ lɛ kɛ tɛ-ga ɔ́ wo ga gíɛ,
kɛ̀ è gé wulo tuɓo-vele-yowũ nui ya.
Hymns
In the 1960s several hymns composed in Loma by Billema Kwillia were recorded by the missionary Margaret D. Miller and then adopted by the Lutheran Church, first appearing in print in Loma in 1970.[8] The most widely used, 'A va de laa' was not translated to singable English until 2004; it is also translated to German.[8]
