Krahn People - Language

Language

Krahn is one of the Kru languages which belongs to the Niger–Congo language family. Although many Kru-speaking tribes have adopted English as their second language, recent studies have shown that 95 percent of Liberia still speaks Kru. Within the Kru language there are several subcategories, with Eastern and Western Kru offering the first significant division of tribal language breakdowns. This Kru language chart clearly shows that Krahn falls under the Western Kru, Wee subgroup. Some scholars further denote a difference between Eastern and Western Krahn, with Eastern variations typically spoken in northeast Liberia and Western Krahn spoken throughout Grand Gedeh County and Côte d'Ivoire. As of 1993, there were approximately 47,000 Eastern Krahn speakers within Liberia, with an additional 47,800 Western Krahn speakers in Liberia and 12,200 in Côte d'Ivoire.

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