| Loma | |
| Also Known As: | Looma |
| Nativename: | Lɔ̀ɔ̀màgòòi[1] / Löömàgòòi / Löghömàgòòi |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /lɔːmàɡòːi/ pronounced as /lɔɣɔmàɡòːi/ |
| States: | Liberia, Guinea |
| Ethnicity: | Loma |
| Date: | 2017–2020 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | Niger-Congo |
| Fam1: | Niger–Congo |
| Fam2: | Mande |
| Fam3: | Western Mande |
| Fam4: | Southwestern |
| Fam5: | Mende–Loma |
| Dia1: | Toma |
| Lc1: | lom |
| Ld1: | Liberian Loma |
| Lc2: | tod |
| Ld2: | Toma |
| Glotto: | loma1259 |
| Glottorefname: | Loma |
Loma (Loghoma, Looma, Lorma) is a Mande language spoken by the Loma people of Liberia and Guinea.
Dialects of Loma proper in Liberia are Gizima, Wubomei, Ziema, Bunde, Buluyiema. The dialect of Guinea, Toma (Toa, Toale, Toali, or Tooma, the Malinke name for Loma), is an official regional language.
In Liberia, the people and language are also known as "Bouze" (Busy, Buzi), which is considered offensive.
Today, Loma uses a Latin-based alphabet which is written from left to right. A syllabary saw limited use in the 1930s and 1940s in correspondence between Loma-speakers, but today has fallen into disuse.[2] [3] [4]
Loma has 21 consonants, 28 vowels, and 2 tones.[5]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Stop | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Semivowel | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close-mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Open-mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |
Loma has 2 tones: the High Tone (pronounced as /link/) (á) and the Low Tone (pronounced as /link/) (à).
The Lord's Prayer in Loma:[6] <poem> Yài è ga gé ɣeeai è gee-zuvɛ, ɓaa ɣa la yà laa-zeigi ma, yà masadai va, è yii-mai ɣɛ zui zu è ɣɛ velei é ɣɛɛzu la è wɔ vɛ, è zaa mii ŋenigi ʋe gé ya, è gé vaa ʋaitiɛ zu ʋaa yɛ, è ɣɛ velei gá ɓalaa gé zɔitiɛ zu ʋaa yɛga la gá ʋaa yega te va. Mɛ lɛ kɛ tɛ-ga ɔ́ wo ga gíɛ, kɛ̀ è gé wulo tuɓo-vele-yowũ nui ya.</poem>
In the 1960s several hymns composed in Loma by Billema Kwillia were recorded by the missionary Margaret D. Miller and then adopted by the Lutheran Church, first appearing in print in Loma in 1970.[7] The most widely used, 'A va de laa' was not translated to singable English until 2004; it is also translated to German.