Kpelle-Basic Lesson on Nouns and Pronouns

This is a brief lesson on nouns (particularly how to identify or refer to a specific object, along with some third person singular pronouns). In Kpelle there are two ways to refer to a specific or definite object. This is done either through the changing of the consonants that begin with a “low tone” or through adding the suffix “I” to the end of the stem (only if it ends with a vowel).

Examples:

P-B = pErE, bErEi = ‘a house’, ‘the house’

K-G= keleN, geleN= a truck or care, the truck or car

n-n= nEni, nEnii= a woman, the woman

Possessive pronouns:

Possessive pronouns for the third person singular is formed by changing “voiceless” form of the stem to its “voiced” form (refresher of voiced and voiceless consonants: voiceless= p, t, k, kp, f, s, b, l, y, Y, w; voiced=b, d, g, gb, v, z, m, n, ny, N, nw, r). Given the complexity of tones (and difficulty showing them via computer or without the proper keyboard), they are not discussed/shown here.

Changing from voiceless to voiced initial consonant to voiced.

Examples:

Ipolu becomes bolu (your back, his back)

Ilaa becomes naa (your name, his name)

Iyee becomes nyee (your hand, his hand)

Now lets practice. Below I provided a few of the changes when referring to a specific or definite object or moving from voiceless to voiced:

P-B

T-D

K-G

Kp-Gb

F-V

S-Z

b-M

L-N

Y-Ny

N-N’