Bom language

Not to be confused with Anjam language.
Bom
Native to Sierra Leone
Native speakers
 a "few hundred" (2014)[1]
Niger–Congo
Language codes
ISO 639-3 bmf
Glottolog bomm1240[2]

The Bom language (alternates: Bome; Bomo)[3] is an endangered language of Sierra Leone. It belongs to the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family and is particularly closely related to the Bullom So language. Most speakers are bilingual in Mende, and use of the Bom language is declining among members of the ethnic group.[4]

Speakers

There are about 250 speakers of Bom left, all of whom are over the age of 50.[5] They have spread westward from their original location, and the language is today spoken west of the Wanje River.

Classification

Like Krim, to which it is closely related, Bom is a Northern Bullom language. Krim is sometimes considered to be a dialect of the same language, but speakers of these two languages consider them to be distinct from one another.[6] The two Northern Bullom languages are further distinguished from the Southern Bullom language Sherbro, which is the most widely spoken of the Bullom languages.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Bom at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Bom". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ Batibo, Herman (2005). Language decline and death in Africa: causes, consequences, and challenges. Multilingual Matters. pp. 82–. ISBN 978-1-85359-808-1. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  4. ↑ Akinsulure, M.O. (1979). Languages and Language Problems in Sierra Leone: An Annotated Bibliography. Njala University College Library.
  5. ↑ Kanu, Sullay (2005). Languages at Risk: A Case Study from Sierra Leone.
  6. ↑ Childs, Tucker (2012). One or two? Bom and Kim, two highly endangered South Atlantic "languages" of Sierra Leone.
  7. ↑ Sumner, A.T., A handbook of the Sherbro language, Crown Agents

External links


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