Klao language

Klao (also Klaoh), or Kru, is a Kru language of the Niger–Congo language family, spoken primarily in Liberia, with some speakers also in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Guinea. It uses SVO word order for main clauses and SOV for embedded clauses. A Klao translation of the Bible by missionary Nancy Lightfoot was released in 2000.^[2] The language has Western, West Central, Central, and Eastern dialects.^[3]

Klao
Kru
Native to	Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Guinea
Ethnicity	Kru people
Native speakers	400,000 (2020)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Kru Western Kru Klao–Tajuasohn Klao
Language codes
ISO 639-3	klu
Glottolog	klao1243

A Klao speaker in Liberia.

Phonology

Consonants

Klao consonants^[4]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Labio- velar
					plain	lab.
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c	k	kʷ	k͡p
	voiced	b	d	ɟ			ɡ͡b
Fricative		f	s
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ		ŋ͡m
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

• /l/ may also be heard as flap sounds [ɺ] or [ɾ].^[5]

Vowels

Klao vowels^[5]

	Front	Central		Back
Close	i ĩ			u ũ
Close-mid	e	ə ə̃	ɵ ɵ̃	o
Open-mid	ɛ ɛ̃			ɔ ɔ̃
Open		a ã

• Sounds /ə, ə̃, ɵ, ɵ̃/ may also be heard as [ɪ, ɪ̃, ʊ, ʊ̃] among dialects.^[6][4]