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Kpelle
Kpelle
Kpɛlɛwoo
Region	Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast
Ethnicity	Kpelle people
Native speakers	(1.3 million cited 1991–2012)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Mande Southwestern Kpelle; ; ;
Writing system	African Reference Alphabet, Kpelle syllabary
Language codes
ISO 639-2	kpe
ISO 639-3	kpe – inclusive code; Individual codes:; gkp – Guinea Kpelle; xpe – Liberia Kpelle; knu – Kono
Glottolog	kpel1252
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A Kpelle speaker, recorded in Liberia.

The Kpelle /kəˈpɛlə/^[2] language (endonym: "Kpɛlɛɛ"^[3]) is spoken by the Kpelle people of Liberia, Guinea and Ivory Coast and is part of the Mande language family. Guinean Kpelle (also known as Guerze in French), spoken by half a million people, is concentrated primarily, but not exclusively, in the southeastern forest regions of Guinea bordering Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. Half a million Liberians speak Liberian Kpelle, which is taught in Liberian schools.

Sample

Kunâŋ gáa ŋele sui,

Tɔɔ ku iláai siɣe a maa waa.

Tɔɔ Ikâloŋ-laai é pá,

Tɔɔ ínîa-mɛni é kέ,

Nɔii ma ɓɛ yɛ̂ɛ berei gáa la Ɣâla-taai.

I kukɔ sâa a kuɣele-kuu tɔnɔ-tɔnɔ mii-sɛŋ;

I ipôlu fe kutɔ̂ŋ-karaa-ŋai dîa,

Yɛ̂ɛ berei kwa kupôlu fè la kuɓarâai ditɔ̂ŋ-karaa-ŋai dîai;

Tɔɔ kutúɛ kufe pili yee-laa-maa su,

Kέlɛ, i kukúla mɛni nyɔ́mɔɔ su.

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labial–velar
Plosive	plain	p	t		k	k͡p
Plosive	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡ͡b
Implosive		ɓ
Fricative	plain	f	s
Fricative	voiced	v	z		ɣ
Trill			r
Lateral			l
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Approximant				j		w

^ Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Guinea Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Liberia Kpelle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kono at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
^ "Kpɛlɛɛ Kɔlɔi 2" [Kpelle reader #2]. 2nd ed. Totota: Kpelle Literacy Center, 1959, 1.
^ Matthew 6:9-13 in the Gbanaŋ-woo-kɛɛ ninai ["Kpelle New Testament"]. Monrovia: Bible Society in Liberia and United Bible Societies, 1992. Online link.
^ Thach, Sharon V.; Dwyer, David J. (1981). Kpelle: A Reference Handbook of Phonetics, Grammar, Lexicon, and Learning Procedures (PDF).