Gola language

Gola
Gola, ꖑꕞ
Native to	Western Liberia & along the border with Sierra Leone
Ethnicity	Gola
Native speakers	200,000 (2019–2020)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Gola
Writing system	Latin script, Vai script, Gola script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gol
Glottolog	gola1255

Gola is a language of Liberia and Sierra Leone. It was traditionally classified as an Atlantic language, but this is no longer accepted in more recent studies.

Classification

Gola is not closely related to other languages and appears to form its own branch of the Niger–Congo language family.^[2] Previously, Fields (2004) had classified Gola as a Mel language most closely related to Bullom and Kisi.^[3]

Distribution

According to Ethnologue, Gola is spoken in widespread regions across Liberia. It is spoken in Gbarpolu County, Grand Cape Mount County, and Lofa County (between the Mano River and Saint Paul River), as well as in inland areas of Bomi County and Montserrado County.

Dialects are Deng (Todii), Kongba, and Senje.

Phonology

Consonants^[4]

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labiovelar	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d	tʃ dʒ	k g	kp gb
Implosive	ɓ
Fricative	f v	s z				h
Nasal	m m̥	n n̥	ɲ	ŋ	ŋm
Approximant	w	l	j

Vowels^[4]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː		u uː
Mid-high	e		o
Mid-low	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Low		a aː

There are at least two tones: high and low. Middle, falling, and rising tones can also be found, but may be allophones conditioned by the presence certain consonants that have a lowering or raising effect on the pronunciation of the tone.^[4]

Writing system

Multiple writing systems have been used to transcribe the Gola language. Until recently, the Vai script was used across Liberia and Sierra Leone.^[5]

References

1. Gola at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Guillaume Segerer & Florian Lionnet 2010. "'Isolates' in 'Atlantic'" Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Language Isolates in Africa workshop, Lyon, Dec. 4
3. Fields, Edda L. Before "Baga": Settlement Chronologies of the Coastal Rio Nunez Region, Earliest Times to c.1000 CE. In: The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2 (2004), pp. 229-253. Boston University African Studies Center.
4. Koroma, Regine (1994). "Die Morphosyntax des Gola". Afrikanistische Monografien (AMO). 4. Institut für Afrikanistik, University of Cologne: xiv+215.
5. Warren L. D'Azevedo (March 1962). "Uses of the Past in Gola Discourse". The Journal of African History. 3 (1): 29. doi:10.1017/S0021853700002711. ISSN 0021-8537. JSTOR 179797. Wikidata Q86531772.