Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 21, 2026

Bom language

The Bom language is an endangered language of Sierra Leone. It belongs to the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family and is particularly closely related to the Bullom So language. Most speakers are bilingual in Mende. Use of the Bom language is declining among members of the ethnic group.

Last revised
Jul 21, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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Wikipedia ↗
Bom
Bom–Krim
Native toSierra Leone
Native speakers
Krim: less than 15 (2014)1
"a few hundreds" (no date)1
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Bom
  • Krim
Language codes
ISO 639-3bmf
Glottologbomk1234
ELP

The Bom language (alternates: Bome; Bomo)2 is an endangered language of Sierra Leone. It belongs to the Mel branch of the Niger–Congo language family and is particularly closely related to the Bullom So language. Most speakers are bilingual in Mende. Use of the Bom language is declining among members of the ethnic group.3

Speakers

The number of speakers range from 151 to 1669 (Census 2015)4 for Krim and 205 to a few hundred for Bom.1

Classification

Bom is a Northern Bullom language. The Krim dialect (also known as Dilan Hassan)2 is considered by speakers to be distinct, as speakers have separate ethnic identities.6

References

References

  1. Bom at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. Batibo, Herman (2005). Language decline and death in Africa: causes, consequences, and challenges. Multilingual Matters. pp. 82–. ISBN 978-1-85359-808-1. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  3. Akinsulure, M.O. (1979). Languages and Language Problems in Sierra Leone: An Annotated Bibliography. Njala University College Library.
  4. Sierra Leone 2015 Population and Housing Census national analytical report. Statistics Sierra Leone, October 2017, S. 89ff.
  5. Bom. UNESCO Atlas of the World Languages in Danger.
  6. Childs, Tucker (2012). One or two? Bom and Kim, two highly endangered South Atlantic "languages" of Sierra Leone.
External links