Temne

American  

[tem-nee] / ˈtɛm ni /

noun

plural

Temnes,

plural

Temne

1. a member of a people living mainly in Sierra Leone.

2. the West Atlantic language of the Temne people.

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Temne British  

/ ˈtɪm-, ˈtɛmnɪ /

noun

1. a member of a Negroid people of N Sierra Leone

2. the language of this people, closely related to Bantu

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Example Sentences

“What need does she have of womanly chores? She is only a child herself,” Papa would remind his brother, and then couldn’t resist adding: “Yes, not even four years old, and yet she speaks Mende, Temne, Limba, Krio, and Arabic. She picks up languages from the marketplace and learns quickly. She will surely become a scholar.”

From Literature

Andrew Jah began to ask the same question in Mende, but I interrupted him in Krio, saying, “I speak Krio, Mende, Temne, Limba, and Arabic.”

From Literature

They sang in the Temne and Mende languages.

From Time

They were from different ethnic groups: She was a Temne and he, a Mende.

From Washington Post

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Isatu Salia was from the Mende ethnic group and Martin Salia was from the Temne ethnic group.

From Washington Post