Let Us Learn Limba: Min Thaniya Hulimba - Paperback

by John-Paul Conteh (Author)

This piece of work is a humble attempt at preparing a source book for the teaching of Limba language in schools and colleges. It has been observed by linguists that the Limba ethnic group has got the largest number of dialects in Sierra Leone. There are at least 12 dialectal variations in Limba but only five are most significant in that they have got a very large number of speakers. These are Biriwa, Safroko, Sella, Tonko and Wara Wara. The other dialects are a sub-set of either one or two of the bigger dialects. For example, Bimankoh is a subset of Biriwa and Safroko; Bikelen is a subset of Biriwa and Songo, and Kalanthuba; Bisonko is a subset of Kelen and Wara Wara; while Kalanthuba is a subset of Safroko, Simiria and Biriwa; the Simiria is a subset of Safroko and Kalanthuba, slightly influenced by Themne and Koranko. The Kamukeh dialect is a mixture of Wara Wara, Yalunka and Fula who surround them in Koinadugu district. It is also observed that the small quantum of written materials in Limba is heavily influenced by Tonko and Sela Limba. School children of other dialects other than the two are often faced with a gross disadvantage when taking the Limba Language at Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) to mark the completion of Junior Secondary School (JSS). The reason is that the few Tonko/Sela writers do not take cognizance of the dialectal variations at least among the five major groupings.

Author Biography

John-Paul Conteh was born in 1957 in Bumban, Biriwa Chiefdom, Bombali District. He did his primary school education at St.Theresa's (RC) Primary School in Bumban and secondary education at St. Francis Secondary School, Makeni and St. Helena Secondary School, Kissy, Freetown. He holds an HTC (Secondary) from Milton Margai Teachers' College (now Milton Margai College of Education and Technology), Goderich, Freetown; a BA General degree from FBC/USL; a PG Dip. Ed rom FBC/USL; and an MEd.(Educational Administration) from Njala University. He worked at several places before his retirement in 2016 with UNICEF Sierra Leone. Among them are: Freetown Cold Storage Co. Ltd.; Road Transport Department in Freetown; St.Matthew's Secondary School, Bumbuna in Tonkolili District; Our Lady of Guadalupe Secondary School, Lunsar, in the Port Loko District; and Action Aid. John-Paul is specialist in the Limba language, an educationist and a playwright. His play, "A Case of Jealousy for the Elders" was performed on several occasions by his students, colleague teachers and himself.