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Kru languages

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Kru languages
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Branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It consists of some 24 languages (or language clusters) spoken by some three million Kru people living in the forest regions of southwestern Côte d'Ivoire and southern Liberia.

For more information on Kru languages, visit Britannica.com.

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Wikipedia: Kru languages
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Kru
Geographic
distribution:		 Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Burkina Faso
Genetic
classification:		 Niger-Congo
 Atlantic-Congo
  Kru
Subdivisions:
Aizi
Eastern Kru
Siamou
Western Kru
ISO 639-2 and 639-5: kro

The Kru languages belong to the Niger-Congo language family and are spoken in the area ranging from the south-east of Liberia to the east of Côte d'Ivoire. The name Kru is of unknown origin and is according to Westermann (1952) 'used by Europeans to denote a number of tribes speaking related dialects, and the dialects as a whole'; Marchese (1989) notes that the term might be derived from the fact that many of these peoples were recruited as 'crew' by European seafarers.

The Kru languages are known for some of the most complex tone systems in Africa, rivaled perhaps only by the Omotic languages.

The Marchese (1989) classification of Kru languages is as follows. Many of these languages are dialect clusters and are sometimes considered more than a single language.

Kru  

Sɛmɛ (Siamou)


Aizi

Tiegba


Abrako



Kuwaa

Kru  proper 
 Eastern  Kru
 Bakwe 

Bakwe


Wane


 Bété 

Kuya


Godié



Dida


Kodia (Kwadia)


 Western  Kru
 Bassa 

Bassa


Dewoin


Gbii


 Grebo 

Grebo (Jabo)


Krumen


Glio-Oubi


 Klao 

Klao


Tajuasohn


 Wee 
 Guere 

Daho-Doo


Glaro-Twabo


Sapo


Wè


Krahn



Nyabwa


Konobo


Wobe






References

  • Westerman, Diedrich Hermann (1952) Languages of West Africa (Part II). London/New York/Toronto: Oxford University Press.

External links

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Bassa
Kru (disambiguation)
Krumen

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