Mprɛ language
 | A request that this article title be changed to Mpra language is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
| Mprɛ | |
|---|---|
| Mpra | |
| Pronunciation | [ḿpŕ̩ɛ̀] |
| Native to | Ghana |
| Region | Savannah Region |
| Extinct | mid-20th century[1] 5 rememberers (2007) |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | mpra1235 |
| ELP | Mpra |
Mprɛ or Mpra is an extinct language spoken in the village of Butei (8°52′N 1°15′W / 8.867°N 1.250°W) in central Ghana, located between the towns of Techiman and Tamale near the confluence of the Black and White Voltas. Mprɛ has been difficult to classify due to its divergent vocabulary. It is known from two word lists given in a 1931 article, and the other collected in 1956.[2] Roger Blench considered it to be a possible language isolate, or alternatively a Kwa language.[3]
A poorly attested language spoken in the nearby village of Tuluwe and "Kusawgu Division", Mpur, may also turn out to be yet another language isolate. Both Butei and Tuluwe are located near the village of Mpaha.[4]
Painter (1967) briefly states that "ḿpŕ̩ɛ̀ has died" and that the ethnic group ("the Nnyamase-mprɛ") have "become Nnyamase-Gonja"; he appears to regard it as having been a dialect of Gonja.[5] However, this is based only on the numerals, which are clearly related to Gonja. The rest of the vocabulary is "hard to recognise".[6] Blench presented it initially as a language isolate,[3] but also as a possible Kwa language; he later notes that it "may either be an isolate with [Kwa] borrowings or a highly divergent branch of Kwa".[7]
Vocabulary
[edit]Allan Wolsey Cardinall collected 106 words of Mpra, which are presented below.[8]
| gloss | Mpra |
|---|---|
| God | agbem |
| it rains | agbem aba |
| earth | sunko |
| earth owner or tindana | suko kawuseggi |
| 1 | ekpe |
| 2 | enyo |
| 3 | eta |
| 4 | ena |
| 5 | enu |
| 6 | grume |
| 7 | ngpa |
| 8 | nenengene |
| 9 | gokpa |
| 10 | edu |
| 11 | edu bili mpe |
| 12 | edu bili nyo |
| 13 | edu bili ta |
| 20 | ado nyo |
| 30 | ado ta |
| 100 | kelafa |
| 200 | lefanyo |
| 1000 | agbu |
| cowrie | amuseraga |
| house | eso |
| cow | nogha |
| fowl | kohor |
| guinea-fowl | aiyili |
| manii | chonangsi |
| woman | ejo |
| child | nzui |
| father | chichi |
| mother | emo |
| son | nkemnzui |
| dog | tebe |
| goat | ade |
| water | nkaw |
| bow | etawa |
| arrow | ncho |
| fire | eja |
| it rains | agbemaba |
| yam | ampi |
| millet | avue |
| cassava | wanchi |
| corn | aboyin |
| beans | aza |
| nose | masuma |
| eyes | anisi |
| teeth | ate |
| tongue | nchuma |
| hair | nmin |
| hand | eno |
| arm | ebopa |
| leg | eputo |
| foot | eputo nasi |
| fingers | ataza |
| toe | atazai |
| cloth | busa |
| tree | eyia |
| kapok tree | ejini |
| native jumpers | kale |
| loincloth | dakor |
| elephant | ewogo |
| bush cow | zingilzinogha |
| lion | jikpajikpakoseggi |
| hartebeest | junga |
| roan | kol |
| waterbuck | bruguni |
| bushbuck | chankpala |
| reedbuck | kurunku |
| oribi | wulo |
| kob | volo |
| duiker | kukru |
| red-duiker | pumpu |
| bush pig | juro |
| hippopotamus | chaji |
| horse | vema |
| donkey | kwimi |
| black | ziri |
| white | fuli |
| red | ejuli |
| iron | epolebona |
| hoe | enwona |
| axe | etile |
| farm | ebaza |
| bush | zingelza |
| village | adebanza |
| fish | enchini |
| snake | ewoa |
| scorpion | lemma |
| locust | tintumba |
| bee | zinwi |
| honey | byunkonkon |
| bird | bobo |
| animal | abrimapre |
| leopard | jankamma |
| hyena | jingachi |
| bush-cat | bata |
| tobacco | asara |
| tail | edu |
| head | zekpa |
| skin | ekuli |
| mouth | nchumu |
| shea nut | gwizi |
| shea butter | ngu |
| Moon | nnopavo |
| sun | ezol |
| stars | achepreza |
References
[edit]- ↑ Painter 1967.
- ↑ سواق, Lameen Souag الأمين (2005-10-17). "Jabal al-Lughat: Mpre". Jabal al-Lughat. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
- 1 2 Blench 2013, pp. 6–7.
- ↑ Blench 2013, p. 2.
- ↑ Painter 1967, p. 27.
- ↑ Williamson & Blench 2000, p. 36.
- ↑ Blench n.d., p. 3.
- 1 2 Cardinall 1931, pp. 195–197.
Bibliography
[edit]- Blench, Roger. 2010. "Why is Africa so Linguistically Undiverse?". Language Isolates in Africa workshop, Lyon, December 3–4
- Cardinall, A. W. (1931). "A Survival" (PDF). The Gold Coast Review. 5 (1 , [, sic], ): 193–197.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - Painter, Colin (1967). "The Distribution of Guang in Ghana, and a Statistical Pre-Testing on Twenty-Five Idiolects". The Journal of West African Languages. 4 (1). Ibadan: Cambridge University Press: 25–78.
- Williamson, Kay; Blench, Roger (2000). "Niger-Congo". In Heine, Bernd; Nurse, Derek (eds.). African languages: an introduction. Cambridge [England] ; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-66178-2.
- Blench, Roger (2013-03-15), Recovering data on Mpra [=Mpre] a possible language isolate in North-Central Ghana (PDF), manuscript
- Blench, Roger (n.d.), Niger-Congo: an alternative view (PDF), archived from the original on 2012-12-03
External links
[edit]- Blench, Roger (1999) Recent Field Work in Ghana: Report on Dompo and a note on Mpre.