Krahn (language)

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Krahn is the language of people of the same name and is one of the Kru languages within the language family of the Niger-Congo languages .

There are two Krahn languages, Eastern and Western Krahn.

  • Western Krahn is spoken in parts of Ivory Coast and Liberia . Statistics from 1991 and 1993 estimated the number of speakers of this language at 47,000 in Liberia and 12,200 in Ivory Coast.
  • Eastern Krahn is originally only spoken in Liberia. The 1991 statistics assume a number of 47,800 speakers.

There are many dialects of both languages. The dialects in Ivory Coast mostly have a French influence.

When Samuel Doe came to power in Liberia in a military coup in 1980, many Krahnspeakers moved from the island areas to the capital Monrovia . It is believed that many of the ethnic Krahn brought to Monrovia did not speak the language.

As a result of the deposition of Does in 1989 and the beginning of the civil war , their language spread through the Liberian refugees in the Ivory Coast.