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Notes on the Gweabo Language of Liberia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Edward Sapir*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago

Abstract

In the eastern part of Liberia, both along the coast and for a considerable distance into the interior, is spoken the 'gwe4a4bo3 language. The tribes that use it, with slight dialectic differences, live some distance west of the Cavalla River, which is the dividing line between Liberia and the Ivory Coast, a French dependency, though some of the interior tribes extend also into French territory. These peoples are divided into five tribes: the ña,bo1 (with six divisions), the n1“we, (English 'Nimiah', with three divisions), the 'bo4lo3kwę·32 (with three divisions), the dr∈3bo (English 'Tremble'), and the 'gbw4l3 'gwlobo. These five tribes, collectively known as ∗gwe4a4bo3, are generally, but incorrectly, classed as 'Grebo', which should be reserved for a coast tribe lying just east of the coast Gweabo and at the mouth of the Cavalla. The true ‘Grebo’ are subdivided into six divisions and speak a language which is quite different from Gweabo, though closely related to it, being intermediate between it and Kru. The ‘Grebo’ are known as 'gbw4bo3 by the Gweabo-speaking tribes. West of the Grebo proper are found the Kru.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1931 Linguistic Society of America

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