Grebo language

Grebo
Kréébo (Grebo)
Native toLiberia
Native speakers
390,000 (2001)[1]
possibly a few Southern Grebo in Ivory Coast, plus refugees
Language codes
ISO 639-2grb
ISO 639-3grb – inclusive code
Individual codes:
grj – Southern (including Jabo)
grv – Central
gbo – Northern
gec – Gboloo
gry – Barclayville
oub – Glio-Ubi
Glottologgreb1256

Grebo is a Kru language of Liberia. All of the Grebo languages are referred to as Grebo, though in Ivory Coast, Krumen is the usual name. The Grebo people live in the extreme south-west of Liberia, both on the coast and inland, between the rivers Cavally and Cess.[2]

As in the other Kru languages, tone is extremely important. For instance, né with a high (or high-mid) tone is the first-person pronoun "I", while nè with a low tone is the singular form of "you".[3]

  1. ^ Barclayville Grebo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Gordon Innes, A Grebo - English Dictionary, Cambridge University Press, 1967
  3. ^ Gordon Innes, as above. A dictionary was compiled from previous dictionaries and the speech of Assistant 1955-1957 at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, Mr. J.Y.Dennis