1 CLASSIFICATION AND WHERE SPOKEN
Temne is a Mel language (southern branch of the West Atlantic branch of Niger Congo) and is spoken in the northern half of Sierra Leone.
2 NUMBER OF SPEAKERS
Julie Nemer (personal communication, 1986) reports that "the 1974 census puts the number of ethnic Temne (i.e., first-language Temne speakers) at 815,227 (30% of the 2.7 million Sierra Leone population). Even given the use of Temne as a lingua franca (with varying degrees of competence) in predominantly Temne-speaking areas, the WTPR (1982) estimate of 1.2 million seems inflated." The Voegelin and Voegelin (1977) report of 525,000 speakers appears too low.
3 USAGE
Temne is one of the four official languages of Sierra Leone. It is also used as a lingua franca in predominantly Temne-speaking areas. Radio broadcasts are heard daily in Temne in Sierra Leone.
1 CLASSIFICATION AND WHERE SPOKEN
Tsonga is an all inclusive name for the TswaRonga or Tonga Group of Bantu (Guthrie S50). These dialects or languages (see Dialect Survey below) are spoken in Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
2 NUMBER OF SPEAKERS
Louw and Baumbach (personal communication, l983) note three million Tsonga speakers in Mozambique and 800,000 in South Africa. WTPR (l982) notes 889,000 Tsonga speakers in South Africa and 600,000 in Zambia. Alexandre (1981) suggests a figure greater than 1.25 million.
3 USAGE
Tsonga is an important regional language.
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