Temne is spoken by the Temne, who make up about 30% of the population of Sierra Leone. The mainly hail from the country’s Northern Province and have a rich culture and history. A famous Temne Chief Bai Bureh launched a rebellion against the British in 1898, this was as a result of overtaxation of his people. Some basic Temne words and their translations follow.
NOTE: The writing system used here is the recommended orthography used in schools and colleges in Sierra Leone. The orthography uses phonetic symbols for some vowel sounds in Temne.
An important thing to note is that each symbol represents ONE and only ONE sound, and each sound is represented by only ONE symbol. The vowel sounds are usually the problem. Below is a guide to the pronunciation of the vowels of Temne.
1. ɛ as in English ‘bed.’
2. e as in English ‘day’
3. ɔ as in English ‘cot’
4. ʌ as in English ‘cut’
5. ə as in English ‘among’
6. o as in English ‘bowl’ or ‘boat’
7. u as in English ‘fool’
8. I as in English ‘seat’
Also, the velar nasal sound, ŋ , as in English ‘King,’ is used in Krio ‘fulɔp piŋ’ (full to the brim), and in Temne ‘kʌ lɛŋ’ ( to grow grey hair).
| English | Temne |
| Afternoon | rəyaŋ |
| Alcohol | mʌber |
| Bar/Pub | ʌŋ ba |
| Bargain | fɔf mɔlɔ |
| Beard | ʌ kek |
| Be careful | yɔ kəthɛgbɛ |
| Bed | kʌ fənt |
| Biscuit/Cookies | kʌ biskit |
| Blind | fith |
| Bobby / Cop | ɔ polis |
| Bonnet / Hood | ʌŋ bɔnɛt |
| Boy | wath runi/wanth uruni |
| Rubbish | yathri |
| Braids | mʌ ru |
| Bread | kʌ bo |
| Bus | ʌŋ bɔs/podapoda |
| Candy/Sweet | kʌ swit |
| Car | ʌŋ lɔri |
| Child | ɔ wath |
| Diarohea/Dysentry | ʌŋ runt |
| Roundabout | ʌŋ tɔntebul |
| Coconut | kʌ gbara |
| Cross Roads/ Junction | ʌŋ yɔnksɔn |
| Door | kʌ dare |
| Drunk | kʌ tis |
| Dust bin / Trash can | ʌŋ muru |
| Ear | ʌŋ ləns |
| Enough | beki |
| Excuse me | kʌbʌri mi |
| Finish | kʌ poŋ |
| Flip Flops/Slippers | ɛ afbak |
| Food | da rədi |
| Friend | ɔ yathki |
| Gas / Petrol | ʌŋ pɛntrol |
| Out in the open | gberkethe |
| Determined | gbakanda |
| Girl | wath bɛra |
| Good Bye | ɔwa |
| Grill | ʌŋ kolpɔt |
| Happy | ɔ bɔnɛ (mi) |
| Head tie/Head band | ʌŋ gbasa |
| Hello | sɛkɛ |
| Help me | mar mi/der nu |
| House | ʌŋ seth |
| How are you? | To pɛ mu-a? |
| How do I? | to mɛ ? |
| How much does it cost? | mɔlɔ-a ? |
| How old are you? | mɔlc təren əŋ ba-a ? |
| Hurry Up | bʌsər |
| I am fine | min yenki |
| I am full | min nʌmrʌ |
| I am going home | I kɔnɛ ro seth |
| I am going to XYZ | I ti/tə kɔ ro XYZ |
| I am on my way | I yi rə roŋ |
| I am sorry | I nɛmthɛnɛ |
| I am XYZ / My name is XYZ | minɛ yi XYZ |
| I don’t have | I bayɛ |
| I know | I tʌrʌ |
| I’d like to go to XYZ | I yema kɔ ro XYZ |
| I’ll be back | I tə kʌl der |
| Leave me alone | tey mi/gbɛpɛ mi |
| Man | wanduni |
| Market | ro yɔpɔwa |
| Maybe | ʌ lɔkɔ lɔm |
| Medication | ʌŋ tɔl |
| Money | ʌŋ kala |
| Mosquito | ʌŋ mis |
| Mouth | kʌ səŋ |
| Neighbour | ɔwe sə fʌtʌnɛ-e |
| Night | rʌ fɔy |
| Onions | kʌ yaba |
| Orange Fruit | ʌŋ lemre |
| Outside | ro kaŋ |
| Peanut | mʌ kʌntər |
| Please | mari |
| Plenty | gbʌthi |
| Poor | mɔnɛ |
| Power outage | ʌŋ sum |
| Provinces | ro gbaŋ |
| Rich | yola/rʌ yola |
| Sand | kʌ sənt |
| Shoe | ʌŋ kɔftha |
| Shop/Store | ro shɔp/ro səthor |
| Shout/Yell | sɔnkɔ |
| Sit down | yirʌ |
| Snacks | ʌ kɔnyɛ |
| Sneakers / Trainers | ɛ krep |
| Soda/Pop/Soft drink | ʌŋ sɔf dərink |
| Stand up | təmʌ/yokanɛ |
| Stop | tey |
| Street | ʌŋ trit |
| Tailor | ɔ thela |
| Take me go | kerʌ mi |
| Tap | ʌŋ pɔmp |
| Taxi / Cab | ʌŋ taksi |
| Thank You | mʌmo |
| Thief | ɔ key |
| Today | thonɔŋ |
| Tommorow | ninʌŋ |
| Trader | ɔ tread |
| Tree | ʌ kənt |
| Trouser | ɛ yankra |
| Trunk / Boot | ʌŋ but |
| Uniform for a special function | ɛ ashɔbi |
| Upset | bansʌ |
| Walk | kɔth |
| Water | ʌ mʌnt |
| What are you doing? | ko mʌŋ yɔ-a ? |
| What? | ko-a ?/ko rəka-a ? |
| What’s your name? | ŋes ʌmu-a ? |
| When | ʌ lɔkɔ-a ? |
| Window | ʌŋ winda/kʌ fenk |
| Woman | wunibom |