Mel

Mel is the southern West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo family, spoken on the coast and in the hinterland of Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Its largest member is Temne of northern Sierra Leone, followed by Kissi; Gola's place in the branch is disputed.

The Temne trace their own origin to the Futa Jallon, and migrations in the fifteenth century, driven by Fulani domination, brought them south to the Kolenté and Rokel rivers; in the mid-sixteenth century the Mande invasion of the Mane overran their country and grafted new kingdoms onto the older chiefdoms.

Portuguese mariners left the first written records: Pereira noted Temne words in memoirs written between 1505 and 1508. In 1787 Temne rulers granted land at Freetown for a settlement of freed slaves, which became a centre of Christian missions and literacy in the region.