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{{distinguish|Lomakka language}}
{{Short description|Mande language spoken in West Africa}}
{{Distinguish|Lomakka language}}
{{Infobox language
{{Infobox language
|name=Loma
|name=Loma
|nativename=Looma
|altname=Looma
|nativename={{lang|lom|Lɔ̀ɔ̀màgòòi}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dwyer|first=David J.|last2=Bodegie|first2=Pewu B.|last3=Bague|first3=James D.|year=1981|title=A Learner Directed Approach to Lorma. A Handbook on Communication and Culture with Dialogs, Texts, Cultural Notes, Exercises, Drills and Instructions|publisher=African Studies Center of Michigan State University|page=109|url=https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED247766/page/n115/mode/2up}}</ref> / {{lang|lom|Löömàgòòi}} / {{lang|tod|Löghömàgòòi}}
|pronunciation={{IPA-all|lɔːmàɡòːi|}}<br />{{IPA-all|lɔɣɔmàɡòːi|}}
|states=[[Liberia]], [[Guinea]]
|states=[[Liberia]], [[Guinea]]
|speakers=310,000
|date=1995 |date'=–2004
|ethnicity=[[Loma people|Loma]]
|ethnicity=[[Loma people|Loma]]
|speakers={{sigfig|560,000|2}}
|date=2017–2020
|ref=e25
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam1=[[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]] ?
|fam1=[[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]]
|fam2=[[Mande languages|Mande]]
|fam2=[[Mande languages|Mande]]
|fam3=Western Mande
|fam3=Western Mande
|fam4=Southwestern
|fam4=[[Southwestern Mande languages|Southwestern]]
|fam5=Mende–Loma
|fam5=Mende–Loma
|dia1=Toma
|dia1=Toma
|lc1=lom|ld1=Liberian Loma|ll1=none
|lc1=lom|ld1=Liberian Loma
|lc2=tod|ld2=Toma|ll2=none}}
|lc2=tod|ld2=Toma
|glotto=loma1259
{{infobox ethnonym| |{{nowrap|Löömàgìtì {{IPA-xx|lɔːmàɡìtì|}} in Liberia}}<br> {{nowrap|Löghömagiti {{IPA-xx|lɔɣɔmaɡiti|}} in Guinea}}|Löömàgòòi {{IPA-xx|lɔːmàɡòːi|}}<br> Löghömàgòòi {{IPA-xx|lɔɣɔmàɡòːi|}}}}
|glottorefname=Loma
'''Loma''' (Loghoma, Looma, Lorma) is a [[Mande languages|Mande]] language spoken by the [[Loma people]] of Liberia and Guinea.
}}
{{infobox ethnonym| |{{nowrap|{{lang|lom|Löömàgìtì}} {{IPA-all|lɔːmàɡìtì|}} in Liberia}}<br/> {{nowrap|{{lang|tod|Löghömagiti}} {{IPA-all|lɔɣɔmaɡiti|}} in Guinea}}|{{lang|lom|Löömàgòòi}} {{IPA-all|lɔːmàɡòːi|}}<br/> {{lang|tod|Löghömàgòòi}} {{IPA-all|lɔɣɔmàɡòːi|}}}}


[[File:WIKITONGUES- Zubah speaking Loma.webm|thumb|A Loma speaker, recorded in [[Liberia]].]]
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.

'''Loma''' (Loghoma, Looma, Lorma) is a [[Mande languages|Mande]] language spoken by the [[Loma people]] of [[Liberia]] and [[Guinea]].

Dialects of Loma proper in Liberia are Gizima, Wubomei, Ziema, Bunde, Buluyiema. The dialect of Guinea, Toma (Toa, Toale, Toali, or {{lang|dmn-GN|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.
In Liberia, the people and language are also known as "Bouze" (Busy, Buzi), which is considered offensive.


==Writing systems==
[[Category:Mande languages]]
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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Everson|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Everson|title=N3756: Preliminary proposal for encoding the Loma script in the SMP of the UCS|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10005-n3756-loma.pdf|publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2|date=2010-01-21|access-date=2016-09-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Everson|first=Michael|title=N4735: Update on encoding the Loma script in the SMP of the UCS|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16201-n4735-loma.pdf|publisher=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2|date=2016-07-22|access-date=2016-09-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/loma.htm|title=Loma syllabary}}</ref>


==Phonology==

Loma has 21 consonants, 28 vowels, and 2 tones.<ref>Christopher Green and Steven Moran . 2019. Loma (Liberia) sound inventory (GM). In: Moran, Steven & McCloy, Daniel (eds.) PHOIBLE 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. (Available online at http://phoible.org/inventories/view/1517, Accessed on 2023-04-25.)</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Loma consonants
|-
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Labial-velar consonant|Labial-velar]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="4" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|g}} ~ {{IPA link|ɡ̟}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ͡b}}
|-
! {{small|[[Implosive consonant|implosive]]}}
| {{IPA link|ɓ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}} ~ {{IPA link|k̟}}
| {{IPA link|k͡p}}
|-
! {{small|[[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]}}
| {{IPA link|pʰ}}
| {{IPA link|tʰ}}
|
| {{IPA link|kʰ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|v}}
| {{IPA link|z}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɣ}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
|
| {{IPA link|x}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Semivowel]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|ʋ}}
| {{IPA link|l}} ~ {{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Loma vowels
! colspan="1" |
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
|
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
|
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɔ}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
| {{IPA link|a}}
|
|}
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: [[High tone|the High Tone]] ({{IPA link|˦}}) {{angbr|á}} and [[Low tone|the Low Tone]] ({{IPA link|˨}}) {{angbr|à}}.

==Sample==
The [[Lord's Prayer]] in Loma:<ref>Matthew 6:9-13 in ''Deʋe niinɛ'' [New Testament in Loma]. [[Monrovia]]: Bible Society in Liberia, 1971. This excerpt was visible at http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/JPN-loma.html, see archived version at https://web.archive.org/web/20160306074512/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/JPN-loma.html.</ref>
{{lang|lom|<poem>
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.</poem>}}

== 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.<ref name=":0">C. MICHAEL HAWN/S T KIMBROUGH, JR. (with appreciation for information provided by Daniel W. Sopo). "Billema Kwillia." ''The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology.'' Canterbury Press, accessed February 24, 2021, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/b/billema-kwillia.</ref> The most widely used, 'A va de laa' was not translated to singable English until 2004; it is also translated to German.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Rude, Noel. 1983. Ergativity and the active-stative typology in Loma. ''Studies in African Linguistics'', 14:265–283.[http://elanguage.net/journals/index.php/sal/article/view/1142]
* Sadler, Wesley. 1951. ''Untangled Loma: a course of study of the Looma language of the Western Province, Liberia, West Africa.'' Published by Board of Foreign Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Liberia.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160718033417/http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/chg_detail.asp?id=2012-090&lang=lgo ISO proposal for Looma 'macrolanguage']

{{Languages of Guinea}}
{{Languages of Liberia}}
{{Mande languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mande languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Liberia]]
[[Category:Languages of Guinea]]
[[Category:Languages written in Latin script]]


{{nc-lang-stub}}


{{Mande-lang-stub}}
[[de:Loma (Sprache)]]
[[pms:Lenga Loma, Liberia]]

Latest revision as of 03:53, 24 June 2024

Not to be confused with Lomakka language.
Loma
Looma
Lɔ̀ɔ̀màgòòi[1] / Löömàgòòi / Löghömàgòòi
Pronunciation[lɔːmàɡòːi]
[lɔɣɔmàɡòːi]
Native toLiberia, Guinea
EthnicityLoma
Native speakers
560,000 (2017–2020)[2]
Niger–Congo
Dialects
  • Toma
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
lom – Liberian Loma
tod – Toma
Glottologloma1259
PeopleLöömàgìtì [lɔːmàɡìtì] in Liberia
Löghömagiti [lɔɣɔmaɡiti] in Guinea
LanguageLöömàgòòi [lɔːmàɡòːi]
Löghömàgòòi [lɔɣɔmàɡòːi]
A Loma speaker, recorded in Liberia.

Loma (Loghoma, Looma, Lorma) is a Mande language spoken by the Loma people of Liberia and Guinea.

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

[edit]

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.[3][4][5]

Phonology

[edit]

Loma has 21 consonants, 28 vowels, and 2 tones.[6]

Loma consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-velar
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop voiced b d g ~ ɡ̟ ɡ͡b
implosive ɓ
voiceless p t k ~ k̟ k͡p
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
Fricative voiced v z ɣ
voiceless f s x
Semivowel w j
Approximant ʋ l ~ ɾ
Loma vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dwyer, David J.; Bodegie, Pewu B.; Bague, James D. (1981). A Learner Directed Approach to Lorma. A Handbook on Communication and Culture with Dialogs, Texts, Cultural Notes, Exercises, Drills and Instructions. African Studies Center of Michigan State University. p. 109.
  2. ^ Liberian Loma at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Toma at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  3. ^ Everson, Michael (2010-01-21). "N3756: Preliminary proposal for encoding the Loma script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  4. ^ Everson, Michael (2016-07-22). "N4735: Update on encoding the Loma script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  5. ^ "Loma syllabary".
  6. ^ Christopher Green and Steven Moran . 2019. Loma (Liberia) sound inventory (GM). In: Moran, Steven & McCloy, Daniel (eds.) PHOIBLE 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. (Available online at http://phoible.org/inventories/view/1517, Accessed on 2023-04-25.)
  7. ^ Matthew 6:9-13 in Deʋe niinɛ [New Testament in Loma]. Monrovia: Bible Society in Liberia, 1971. This excerpt was visible at http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/JPN-loma.html, see archived version at https://web.archive.org/web/20160306074512/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/JPN-loma.html.
  8. ^ a b C. MICHAEL HAWN/S T KIMBROUGH, JR. (with appreciation for information provided by Daniel W. Sopo). "Billema Kwillia." The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed February 24, 2021, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/b/billema-kwillia.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Rude, Noel. 1983. Ergativity and the active-stative typology in Loma. Studies in African Linguistics, 14:265–283.[1]
  • Sadler, Wesley. 1951. Untangled Loma: a course of study of the Looma language of the Western Province, Liberia, West Africa. Published by Board of Foreign Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Liberia.
[edit]


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