Native speakers 420,000 (2012) | Ethnicity Loma Dialects Toma | |
Language family Niger–CongoMandeWestern MandeSouthwesternMende–LomaLoma ISO 639-3 Either:lom – Liberian Lomatod – Toma | ||
Loma (Loghoma, Looma, Lorma) is a Mande language spoken by the Loma people of Liberia and Guinea.
Contents
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
Today, Loma uses a Latin-based alphabet which is written from left to right. A syllabary saw limited use in the 1930s and 1940s in correspondence between Loma-speakers, but today has fallen into disuse.
Sample
The Lord's Prayer in Loma:
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.References
Loma language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA